Precursor Knowledge
by Volkorona
Summary: Naruto is wandering through the forests of Konoha, reflecting on his life... His parent's neglect, the villager's hate, all things that he could certainly do without in his life. As he is walking home, something catches his eye... Small globes of energy... They feel powerful, in their own way. He follows them and learns how to use nature in a way that not even the elder toads know.
1. Chapter 1

Yeah, I know... I haven't updated in months and I come out with another new story... This just came into my head and I really wasn't going to publish it, I was just gonna use it to get the proverbial juices going, however I just couldn't resist once I started writing! I swear I'm not going to abandon any of my other stories, but I just got a bit sidetracked by college and life...

So yeah, Jak and Daxter was a favorite video game series of mine, and I really liked all of them, this story popped into my head a few years ago. Yes it's another neglect fic, but this one is a bit different from the others I've written. Of course a harem.

So, let's get started!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the Jak and Daxter series, or any other media that may appear in this or any of my other stories.

* * *

 _Konohagakure no Sato._

If one were to look upon Konohagakure no Sato, then they would see the strongest hidden village in the elemental nations. Led by Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage, who spent every day watching over his beloved village, then going home to his loving wife Kushina, and adoring daughter Naruko and son Menma. One would think that they were a picture perfect family, nothing wrong and all the happiness they could ask for.

They would be wrong.

Sitting atop the Hokage monument, gazing up into the starry sky, was a young boy of about ten years old with sun kissed blonde hair gently spiking up around his head, and rather strange eyes. If one looked at them, they would seem blue, or violet, in reality, Naruto's eyes were a strange combination of both colors. It looked as if his iris' were normally violet, but bits of blue were leaking in from the pupil. It was just a strange genetic mutation though, nothing spectacular, while rare. This was Naruto Namikaze, the eldest child of Minato and Kushina. In order to understand why their family was not perfect, like everyone believed, one must understand what took place on the night of the twin's birth.

A masked man came and ripped the Kyuubi no Kitsune out of Kushina, who was weak from childbirth, and made it attack the village. Minato managed to subdue it long enough to use a forbidden fuinjutsu to seal it away, but not before splitting it. He split the chakra from the beast itself, thinking that it would be easier to contain that way. He sealed the chakra into Naruko, and the biju itself into Naruto. Normally, using this jutsu would take the user's soul, but the Shinigami decided that he would let Minato go, mostly since he was way backed up on work, and he was gonna get the soul sometime anyway. However, this had some unforeseen consequences, they started training Naruko and Menma when the twins were five, claiming that they needed to teach her how to control the Kyuubi's chakra, and since Menma had shown the ability to use chakra chains, he could help keep her calm. Naruto had no problem with this at first.

Three years later, he had a problem with it. When Naruko still couldn't control the youki a few months later, they devoted even more time to her training, but she was never even able to handle a single tail without going berserk. Their parents thought that it was because her own chakra was weak and minuscule compared to the Kyuubi's, so they trained her to be a ninja. They also put more time into Menma's training, wanting him t be ready for any situation. However, whenever Naruto tried to join in, it was the same promise over and over again...

'We'll train you later Naruto, after Naruko gets a handle on her youki.'

Naruto was no fool, he could tell that there was no way she would ever control it, but Minato and Kushina would never acknowledge it. Eventually, they started leaving him out of other things, family outings, events, parties. Hell, they had even forgotten his birthday the past two years, pathetic when you think that his and his sibling's are the same. Anyway, he was obviously pissed. However, he had come to an ultimatum with himself, if they didn't notice him by his birthday party tomorrow night, he would leave the village. What for, he didn't know yet. Greener pastures maybe? It really wouldn't be a problem, he had nobody in the village. Well, except Itachi-nii and Hiruzen-jiji. But he thought they expected him to leave at some point. The whole village didn't like him as a matter of fact...

Naruto stared up at the stars for a little while longer before sitting up and rising to go back to the estate. As he walked, a glint caught his eye, a small green light...

It was tiny, but Naruto was sure he'd seen something... He slowly and cautiously walked closer, and as he went, he saw more of the lights floating around, little green balls of energy, they felt... soothing... He kept following them until he reached a clearing. In the center of the clearing was an old man meditating, he was about 5'4" with a large white beard, white hair wrapped around a small log, complete with a small bird sitting on it. He was wearing brown and green robes with a dark orange sash, leather wristbands, small glasses, and wooden geta that looked like he just put leather straps on two more logs. He was also carrying a staff, his skin strangely enough had a small bit of a green tinge to it, along with his ears being long and pointed lastly, he was floating a few feet above the ground...

As Naruto walked into the clearing, the old man's eyes snapped open and he whirled around to point his staff at Naruto, "Confound it boy! Don't you know it's rude to interrupt someone's meditation!" He yelled in a surprisingly powerful voice.

Naruto jumped and started to explain himself, "S-sorry sir! I was just following these little balls of light..."

It was then that the old man looked around and saw all the energy around him, it was strange... it should have faded away when he stopped meditating... unless... He looked over to Naruto and saw that he had managed to catch a bit of the light in his hands, and was examining it closely, with a small but excited smile on his face. He didn't even notice how some had touched his back and seeped into his skin.

"It's called Eco boy." Naruto looked up at the old man when he heard that, "My name is Samos Hagai, and I am a sage."

Naruto's eyes widened significantly, "A sage? Like Jiraiya?"

Samos scoffed and said, "The toad sage is no real sage. It is true that he can draw upon nature energy, but any halfwit with a connection to nature can as well. The toad sage just knows how to absorb it and use it to strengthen himself. I am a true sage, who knows the true form of nature energy and how it works. Not even the elder toad can compare to my knowledge."

Naruto was in awe, "Can you train me!"

Samos was so surprised that he dropped to the ground, before picking himself up, "Are you insane boy!? It's not something you can just learn! Besides, don't you have parents to teach you?"

Naruto's smile dropped and he gained a sad expression, "I do have parents, but they don't really care about me anymore..."

Samos looked at him for a while before sighing, "Tell me your story, boy."

Naruto was confused, but complied, "Well, I should start by saying that my name is Naruto..."

So, Naruto told the old sage about his life, and why he had said what he did, Samos listened patiently while Naruto spoke. Even though he was the picture of calm, Samos was boiling on the inside, he was appalled at what he was hearing! When Naruto was done, Samos spoke, "I'll tell you what Naruto... I originally came here because this village has the best places to get in touch with Eco, but you've caught my interest. Meet me here tomorrow morning and I'll then test you, if you pass, and if you're right in thinking that they'll forget you again, then I'll take you with me and train you. Deal?"

Naruto beamed, "Deal!"

* * *

 _The Next Morning, in the clearing._

Naruto arrived back in the clearing after making himself a small breakfast and leaving the Namikaze Estate. When he entered, he saw Samos sitting cross legged down on the ground, the sage turned to him and said, "Come Naruto, sit across from me."

Naruto obeyed and sat across from Samos, who gave him an appraising look before looking down at a small sapling in front of them, "Tell me, what do you see here?"

Naruto looked down before turning to Samos with a confused face, "It's a sapling, why?"

Samos nodded, an expected answer from someone so young, "Good, now I want you to tell me what you feel in this clearing, don't think, feel..."

The blonde nodded and concentrated hard on the plant, before he just lost interest in it and started spacing out a bit... He couldn't help it, when he was outside in nature, he just zoned out every now and again. However, he still answered Samos' question, "I can't explain it... I feel a weird energy all around me... In the ground, the plant, even in the wind... I can even feel it flowing inside me..."

Samos gained a small smile and a glint in his eye, "That is Eco... much like the energy you saw last night, but in it's whole form. An all-encompassing energy which binds us together, flowing through us and the planet itself. Now, let me explain it a bit deeper... Pay attention, because it's a long explanation and I don't want to repeat myself."

Naruto nodded and listened as Samos explained, "There are six types of Eco in the world. Green Eco, which is what you say last night, is the energy of life. It can heal almost any injury or sickness. Even someone trained in the basics of manipulating green Eco can put Tsunade Senju to shame in healing. Blue Eco is the energy of motion, when blue Eco is being channeled, it can speed up your muscles, nerves, brain, anything in the body connected to the brain's electrical impulses. A master can go so fast that they can go from zero to the speed of light in an instant. Red Eco is the energy of force, it can make a body incredibly durable, and increase strength by ten-fold. A master can break a mountain in a single punch. Yellow Eco is the energy of emotion, the stronger your feelings, the stronger it's power. It acts however you choose to form it, as a ball, or a stream. It will use the strength of your emotions to burn away the opponent. Now, here come the two most important types of Eco in existence. Dark Eco, the essence of destruction. It destroys anything that it comes into contact with, and anything that isn't destroyed is warped and mutated beyond all recognition. It is the most dangerous of all Eco. Lastly, there is Light Eco, the rarest of all Eco, it is the energy of creation, there is little on it's specific powers, but it has been said that should one master the power of light Eco, then they shall gain the power of a god, even the ability to bring the dead back to life..." With that, Samos stopped and watched Naruto's reaction.

Naruto was processing everything he had just been told, it was all amazing... Eco was greater than any jutsu or power he had ever heard about or read about, "Wow... You can do all that?"

Samos laughed and shook his head, "No I cannot. I have merely devoted myself to the study of Eco. You see, only certain people can channel Eco through their bodies, but it takes years of training. I myself can only channel Green Eco. However... there are people born every few centuries that can channel Eco as easily as breathing..."

Naruto spent the whole rest of the day listening to Samos explain, about Eco, about the precursors, about anything and everything he could think to teach. When it came time for Naruto to return home, he left the clearing with a headache from everything he'd learned. But he had a megawatt smile on his face that put the sun to shame. As he entered his house, he saw his parents and siblings having fun, with a banner that read 'Happy birthday Naruko and Menma!' written across it. He watched as they walked into the backyard and how everyone flocked to them, praising the twins and shoving presents onto them... Not a single person acknowledged his presence. He went out into the yard and sat down, watching the festivities from the shadows of the house. A few hours later, everyone had left, and his parents and siblings had went inside to have dinner, no doubt not setting a place for him...

By now his mood was sufficiently dampened. He put his head down onto his knees until a shadow came over him. He looked up to see Samos looking down at him with a saddened gaze, "I... I admit that I hoped you were exaggerating last night... But now I see just how honest you were being... Very well then. Pack your things and let's go."

Naruto's eyes went wide, "You were serious!?"

Samos' eye twitched as he lightly bopped Naruto on the head with his staff, "Of course I was! Now hop to it Naruto. We have a long way to go."

Naruto nodded vigorously and decided to forgo going inside, instead choosing to climb up the side of the house, open his bedroom window, and climb in that way. A few minutes later, he reemerged with a duffel bag crammed with clothes, along with a backpack filled with books and scrolls.

Together the two left the estate and headed for the village gate. When they arrived, the two guards perked up, Samos just walked up to them and quickly hit them with his staff, hard enough to knock them out. He then placed a hand on their heads and messed with their memories a bit. As Naruto walked down the path away from Konoha with his new teacher, he couldn't help but wonder what the future held for him...

* * *

 _Six Years Later - Small Island far off the coast of Kaminari no Kuni._

A now 16 year old Naruto lie down on a straw roof. He hadn't changed much really, he had grown more handsome, his face becoming more angular, his whisker marks gaining some thickness to them, and his ears had gained a small elfish point to them. He was wearing black shinobi sandals, brown cargo shorts tucked into the sandals, a grey-blue tank top with a leather harness around his chest, looking like it was meant to hold a sword, a small metal shoulder pad on his left shoulder, and black elbow length fingerless gloves, each with three raised metal domes made of precursor metal, about two inches across, and the tallest point only raising only one and a half centimeters off the glove. There was one on the back of both his hands, and the other four were on his forearms, two on each. They were engraved with ancient symbols and runes that even a trained scholar would be lost on. His hair had grown longer, reaching down to mid-back in a low ponytail, tied with a band under his neck and between his shoulder blades. Lastly, there were two bangs hanging down in front of his ears, there also seemed to be a strand of prayer beads braided into each of them.

Another piece of interesting information, Naruto was on very good terms with Kyuubi, or Kurama. Turns out that he would soon become a full jinchuuriki. As it happens, Naruko only had a fixed amount of youki in her system. It wouldn't replenish at all, since it was cut off from the source, while the biju itself was regaining it's chakra just like a human. Something that Kurama always mocked Minato for whenever the chance popped up.

Naruto relished in the feel of the warm sun on his skin... This was always the best part of his day, when training was over, and he could just relax on the roof of the hut in peace...

"Hey Naruto!" Well, almost peace. Naruto didn't mind though, it was better than his sensei yelling at him for something. He looked down to see a shapely girl his age with short blue and green hair, and green eyes, along with ears just as pointed as his. She was wearing tight fitting purple shorts that went down to just above her knees, where they were tied off with black ribbons, held up by black suspender straps, brown sandals, a white top that shaped her for well, while showing her midriff. Lastly, she had fanny pack on that she was stuffing a pair of leather working gloves into.

Naruto blinked a few times before smiling at her, "Yo Keira." This was Keira Hagai, Samos' daughter and Naruto's best and most trusted friend. Not saying much, but it was true. He slid down the roof of the hut and landed next to her, towering over her 5'5" with his height of 6'2", "What's up?"

She smiled and said, "I'm gonna go walk around the beach, wanna join me?"

"Sure, why not?" The blonde said with a smile. Keira beamed and turned to head toward the beach. (For an image of the island, just imagine Sandover village with just Samos' hut, no other structures except for the precursor stuff. Also, there's no fire canyon. If they climbed that cliff, it'd just lead to a sheer drop into the ocean, with geyser rock a few dozen yards out.)

As the two walked down the beach, a small yellow and black spotted creature about the size of a housecat jumped up on Naruto's shoulder and rubbed it's face on his. (It's the sculptor's muse.) Naruto brought a hand up and gave it a few rubs on the head before it settled down on his shoulders with it's head on his shoulder pad.

Keira laughed at this a bit, "Lazy little thing isn't she?"

Naruto chuckled as well, "Yeah, but I wouldn't have her any other way. Isn't that right Muse?" The small animal gave a small meow much like a cat before going back to sleep. Naruto and Keira walked in a comfortable silence for a few more minutes before Naruto looked to his companion, "Have you given it anymore thought?"

Keira, knowing what he was talking about, looked down at the sand, "I've thought about it... But I just don't know. I want to go with you, but I also don't want to leave Tou-san all alone..."

Naruto nodded, he could understand. He was planning on going back to the elemental nations when Samos had deemed him ready. Of course the old sage knew what Naruto planned to do. He had felt that Naruto would return someday ever since they left for the island. Naruto was all set to go really, there was just one more thing he needed to do, and that was to see if Keira wanted to join him. He would of course be disappointed if she didn't but he understood her reasons, he didn't want to leave Samos all alone either...

It wasn't just his desire to have a friend along for the ride though. Despite being more of a thinking type, Keira was a powerful fighter. From working on machines and her inventions constantly, she was really strong, and she was very good at taijutsu. Not only that, but she was a bit of a weapon's mistress. Not one who used a new weapon every attack, but she often switched between weapons during their spars.

The two spent the next few hours exploring and just enjoying each other's company, before returning to the hut.

* * *

 _A few Days Later._

Keira lie in bed staring up at the cieling, her brain refusing to sleep until she had an answer. She needed one, Naruto was leaving the next morning! As much as she wanted to go with him... to be with him... She couldn't just leave her father all by himself for who knows how long... Her mind started to drift back to some times with Naruto that stuck out in her memory...

* * *

 _Flashback._

 _"Keira, this is Naruto, he's going to be staying with us for a while. He's my new student in the study of Eco."_

 _A young Naruto looked anxiously at the young girl in front of him, he hoped that she didn't hate him like the villagers..._

 _She gained a bright smile and said, "Hi there, I'm Keira! It's so nice to have someone to play with here now!" With that, she grabbed his arm and dragged him all throughout the island in an impromptu tour._

* * *

 _A 12 year old Keira looked around the thick jungle of the island edge, she had wandered in here while exploring with Naruto, and now she had gotten lost! As she looked around, she wondered if she would ever be found... Her father had stressed for them to never ever go into the forest, and now she was lost in it..._

 _"S-someone? Anyone!? Hello!" She called in vain._

 _She was about to have a panic attack when Naruto suddenly burst through the foliage, "Keira! There you are-" He was cut off by said girl crashing into his chest and crying onto it. He just smiled down at her and placed a hand on her head before leading her back out of the forest and back to the hut._

* * *

 _This time, we see the scene of a 15 year old Naruto and Keira, sitting atop one of the stone towers at the end of Sentinel Beach. They had just went a few rounds in sparing and were totally wiped out. They were content to just sit on the floor of the tower and watch the sun set against the clear blue water..._

 _Naruto fidgeted a bit before speaking, "Keira... I'm planning on leaving once I finish my training. I want to head back to the nations and become a ninja."_

 _Keira looked like she had been struck, "What! You're just gonna leave? What about me and Tou-san?"_

 _Naruto looked out at the water, "Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about... I wanted to know if... you wanted to go with me."_

 _Her eyes shot wide open before she looked out at the sunset and asked, "If I didn't, would you forget about me?"_

 _This time it was Naruto's eyes that went wide, he gently took Keira's chin and turned her to face him, "I would never forget about you Keira. You're my best friend, even if you decide not to go, no matter where I go, no matter who I meet, you will always have a place in my heart."_

 _She nodded with a small smile, before the two stared at each other... Soon, they started moving closer, Keira's eyes slowly closing as she leaned forward, with Naruto doing the same... their lips were only a centimeter apart..._

 _"NARUTOOOOOOOOO! WHERE THE HELL IS MY STAFF!"_

 _The two jumped apart and blushed an atomic red, before gathering themselves up and heading back to the village._

* * *

She groaned at her little trip down memory lane before throwing the blankets off and leaving the hut, walking to the shore and staring out at the distant shore of Kaminari no Kuni, her nightgown blowing gently in the wind.

"Something on your mind my dear?"

Keira jumped and turned to find her father behind her, he gave her a warm smile, something rarely seen, even by Naruto. It's not like he didn't care about them, he just didn't show it in smiles very often. She shook her head and gave a smile, "I'm fine Tou-san. I just wanted some fresh air..."

Samos shook his own head with a small chuckle, "I know you better than that Keira. You're conflicted about whether or not to go with Naruto." At her surprised look he rolled his eyes, "Come now Keira, I'm a sage. Plus, he asked me if it was alright with me to ask you."

She nodded and looked out at the ocean for a while before speaking, "I just... I don't want you to be alone..."

Samos nodded and stroked his beard a bit, "I thought as much... Keira, look at me please." She turned to look her father in the eyes, "I will not deny that you leaving would be hard for me. I have grown quite fond of Naruto, and you're my daughter, of course I'll miss you terribly. But, I can't let you stay here your whole life, you deserve to go out there and experience the world, I see it, there are days when you can hardly stand the island anymore! ...Keira, what I'm trying to say, is that your future lies with Naruto in the Nations, not here keeping me company for your whole life... Besides, it's not like it'd be goodbye forever! You can easily get through the illusion surrounding the island."

Keira was in tears as she thought about what her father had said, "I know... But I'm scared... I haven't been off this island in my life! It's just so... daunting..."

Samos smiled again and took her hands, "You'll be alright Keira... You'll have Naruto with you, and you can handle yourself very well. You two will do great things, I'm sure of it. But... not if you stay on this island your whole life."

Keira nodded as she wiped the tears from her eyes, a small smile on her face. The two then went back to the hut to get some sleep.

* * *

 _The next Morning._

Naruto placed the last storage scroll into a holder on the side of Keira's A-Grav Zoomer, Muse sitting on the handlebars. A machine she had built from precursor metal and hard work. He turned to see Samos and Keira there to see him off. He smiled sadly at them, "I promise to come visit as often as I can... I'll miss you guys."

Samos nodded and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "My boy, it's been an honor teaching you, and I can only hope that you'll remember my teachings, and how the gloves work..." Naruto smiled sadly and nodded before turning to Keira, only to find her not there. Upon hearing a meow from Muse, he turned to see Keira loading her own scrolls onto the Zoomer.

She turned to him and winked, "What? You didn't think I'd miss out on this did you?"

Naruto gained a huge smile as he grabbed her in a hug and spun her around, laughing all the way. Samos shook his head and smacked him, "Now then, if you two want to make good time then you'd better get going now... I just want to say... I'm proud of you both. Protect each other, and stay safe..."

The two nodded as they said their goodbyes, a handshake for Naruto, and a huge hug from Keira. Samos watched as they sped off on the Zoomer, a few tears leaking from his eyes as he watched his daughter and his apprentice speed off. He wiped the tears away and yelled one last piece of advice at them...

* * *

 _On the Zoomer._

The two were speeding away toward the mainland when they heard Samos' voice carrying over the waves... Carrying one last piece of sagely advice for our two heroes, "NARUTO I SWEAR IF YOU GET MY DAUGHTER PREGNANT I'D BETTER SEE A RING ON HER FINGER WITHIN A MONTH OR I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD ON MY MANTLE!"

The two teens started to resemble tomatoes as they rolled over the waves, _**"I agree with the sage. You must tap it at some point kit."**_ Said a deep voice from Naruto's head.

Naruto ignored it and kept steering the Zoomer. However, it was hard to ignore Muse's staring at him like she agreed...

* * *

 _Coast of Kaminari no Kuni._

Keira had sealed the Zoomer away in a storage scroll, which she placed into a holder on her belt, along with a few other scrolls. She turned to see Naruto placing a sword into the harness on his back, it was a Katana that she herself had made for him. It was four feet long, with one foot being the handle. The whole thing was made of precursor metal, carefully cut, shaped, and sharpened in her father's yellow Eco lava forge. In essence, the sword was made using her own emotions for the blonde, she had poured her heart into making the sword, and it showed. When even Samos tried to appraise it, it just wouldn't work for him, it felt wrong in his hands, even Keira wasn't able to use it effectively. However, when Naruto used it, it was like an extension of his arm. The tsuba was the same orange red color of every other precursor structure, in the shape of a symbol they had found, the seal of Mar, an ancient warrior with the same power with Eco as Naruto. The blade was a pale orange, due to Keira wearing it down to shape the blade, something interesting that they'd discovered, precursor metal conducted Eco, as well as chakra even better than chakra metal. The handle was wrapped in interwoven leather and green fabric, lastly, the pommel was two hollow circles intersecting to form a kind of globe shape.

Naruto finished making sure the sword was secure and turned back to Keira, "Alright, let's get going. We'll head to Konoha, they have a special test for unaffiliated ninja to become members of the shinobi corps."

Keira nodded, "Are you sure Naruto? I know how you feel about that place..."

The blonde sighed and said, "Yeah, I'm sure. It's the only place I feel safe enough to go, as weird as it sounds. Plus, I'll need to confront my past sometime." With that, the two set off down a road toward Konoha.

As they walked, they could't help but be a bit nervous, they had been walking a few hours, and if they were still on the island they'd have reached the other side and gone back by now. After a few more hours of walking they had calmed down a bit and decided to enjoy the scenery. After all, it would be a few more days before they reached Konoha. Of course, Muse slept most of the way.

* * *

 _A few days later - Konohagakure no Sato._

Keira looked around at all the buildings, a bit overwhelmed at the enormity of the village. She turned to the hooded face of Naruto, now wearing a leather, hooded, sleeveless jacket. His bangs with the beads the only part of his hair showing, along with his mouth, his harness and sword now over the jacket, "This place is huge! I don't think we could explore it all as quickly as Sandover Island!"

Naruto chuckled at her, she was totally amazed by everything here, not that he could blame her, "Well we can try that later, for now let's get to the Hokage's office and apply to be ninja." She nodded and followed Naruto, marveling at all the things she saw. When they arrived at the Hokage tower, Naruto walked up to the secretary and said, "Hello there, we're from an island out near Kaminari no Kuni and, we'd like to apply to be ninja please."

The secretary took one look at him, then at Keira marveling at the huge tower, and immediately assumed that they were a couple country kids who thought being ninja was easy. She was going to tell them to scram, but maybe she should send them to the academy so they could see what it really took to be ninja... Yeah, that'd work, "Sure, just take this to the academy and show it to Iruka in class 5. He'll get you straightened out." She said with a slightly condescending smile.

The two nodded and headed off for the academy, when they left the tower Naruto scoffed, "Did you see that way she looked at us? Like she was somehow better than us because we weren't from the village."

Keira nodded with a huff, "Well, I'll guess we'll just have to show them how strong we really are." She said with a challenging look.

The two arrived at the academy and found out where Iruka's class was, then they headed up and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, a man with a scar across his nose and his hair in a pineapple style opened the door, "Yes, can I help you two?" Naruto handed him the note and he took a minute to read it, _'These two came in wanting to take the freelance ninja test. I thought that maybe they could use a little lesson in what a real ninja was like, just don't be too hard on them okay?'_ Iruka sighed at the secretary's handwriting. He new the rule that everyone got a shot, no matter what she thought of them. But since they were here, it couldn't hurt to test them... He was going to report to the Hokage the before graduation the next day anyway.

Iruka gave them a smile, "I'm sorry to say, but the secretary had you come here to get beaten and then leave... But don't worry, I'll give you two a test then personally give the Hokage an evaluation. For now, just come inside and hang out until class is over. By the way, what are your names?"

Keira smiled and said, "Keira and Naruto Hagai."

Iruka nodded as the two walked in, Naruto was immediately regretting his decision... His siblings were sitting right there staring at the two. Not only them, there were quite a few people there who bullied him when he was a child. Ino Yamanaka... Sakura Haruno... Sasuke Uchiha... Plus all the civilian kids who liked to gang up on him. However, Naruto noticed that most of the girls in the class looked like they wanted to grab Muse and squeeze the life out of her, Kami knows Keira did when she met her...

Anyway, his siblings had changed quite a bit. Menma looked like a miniature Minato, with an orange tracksuit jacket and black pants. A white shirt underneath, and blue ninja sandals. Naruko had her blonde air done up in twintails and was wearing white short shorts, a black long sleeved shirt with a V neck showing some cleavage, and a pink scarf loosely draped over her shoulders, with black ninja sandals reaching under her knees. She still had the same whiskers as Naruto, but thinner. (Everyone is in their shippuden outfits. Menma is cannon Naruto with no whiskers and his modified outfit, Naruko is Naruto in sexy jutsu form, just with clothes.)

Iruka turned to the class, "These two will just be here observing until the end of class. I'm going to give them a freelance test." At their confused look, he elaborated, "The freelance test is a ninja exam open only to people not from Konoha who are too old to start the academy." Keira immediately noticed the annoyed looks from people, no doubt assuming that she and Naruto were thinking it'd be easy. They took their seats at the back of the class and sat quietly as Iruka went through the rest of his lesson. A few hours later when he was done, he said, "Alright, that's it for today! You kids can head home. Alright you two, please follow me out to the training field." When they arrived, Iruka saw that all the students had come to watch. As he decided how to test them, he had an idea, _"They're testing to become gennin, so why not have them fight a gennin?"_ He then gestured for one of them to come forward, Keira being the one who did. Iruka then turned to his students, "Ino, how would you like to fight her?"

Said girl was a bit surprised, but decided that it was a chance to show off to Sasuke. Plus this girl was showing her up in beauty! Ino walked out onto the sparring field as Iruka decided to be a referee, "Alright, this will be an anything goes match, if I feel that it's over then I'll step in and stop it, ready?" He received a nod from both girls, "Hajime!"

Ino immediately rushed forward, thinking it'd be easy to beat Keira, but when she got close and went for a punch Keira merely said, "Are you even trying?" Before she grabbed Ino's wrist, placed a palm on her shoulder, and turned, wrenching Ino's arm and slamming the blonde girl into the ground. Keira jumped back as Ino got to her feet. Ino then grit her teeth and took out a scroll before spinning and releasing a bouquet of flowers that flew toward Keira, **"Flower Bomb!"**. Keira just took out her own scroll. When the bouquet hit, it exploded, everyone thought Keira was done, before she came rushing out of the smoke with a large shield made of precursor metal in front of her, it was triangular in shape and covered her whole body, it had runes all over it and the seal of Mar in the center. Keira moved surprisingly fast and slammed the shield into Ino, sending her tumbling back out of the arena. Iruka even had to help her stand after that attack.

Iruka watched as Keira sealed the shield away in a scroll and walked back over to Naruto, who high-fived her and walked out onto the field to take her place, Muse hopping onto Keira's head. As Iruka was going to pick an opponent, Sasuke stepped out onto the field, with a smug smile on his face, "I'll fight him sensei."

Iruka nodded and sighed, "Fine, same rules as the last match, ready?"

Sasuke smiled arrogantly to himself as he nodded, that girl Keira was strong, and if there was one thing Sasuke liked, it was strength, since he couldn't kill Itachi yet, he might as well start on his secondary goal. Keira was a perfect example of what he wanted, a strong woman who was, of course, attractive enough to arouse his interest. It was obvious that she was close to Naruto, and if it was the same one he knew when they were kids, then it'd be easy to show her how much stronger than him he was.

Receiving his nods, Iruka started the match, "Hajime!"

Sasuke settled into the Interceptor Fist style and waited or Naruto to make the first move. He wasn't disappointed as Naruto shot forward with average gennin level speed, he then went for a straight punch to the chest, which Sasuke easily moved to counter.

Before Naruto disappeared faster than Sasuke could follow, the Uchiha's eyes went wide open, the same with everyone else's. Naruto appeared behind Sasuke and finished the punch, nailing Sasuke with a hit to the back, sending him flying forward.

Iruka took a closer look at the field, and he, much like the more observant gennin of the class, noticed the scorch marks on the ground in a semicircle from where Naruto disappeared from, to where he appeared... Iruka's eyes widened, _"That was pure speed!"_

Sasuke, after recovering, turned back to his opponent with rage in his eyes. He then went through a flurry of handsigns, **"Katon: Gokakyu!"** He then shot out a huge fireball at Naruto, who merely lifted a fist, that was suddenly alight with yellow flame-like energy. He readied himself and threw his fist forward, when it made contact with the fireball, there was a small struggle before Naruto made a final push and destroyed the fireball. Sasuke stood stunned that Naruto was able to beat his jutsu with some tiny fire on his fist.

Naruto then let the fire go out and disappeared again, this time appearing in front of Sasuke with his sword at the Uchiha's neck. Iruka then spoke up, "The winner is Naruto! ...Alright everyone. Head home now. We'll meet again tomorrow for the graduation exam." He then turned to Naruto ad Keira, "You two come as well. I'll have your results then, alright?"

They nodded and walked away to the apartment Samos had let them use. Turns out, the old man was loaded! He had the apartment in one of the best buildings in the village. It was even a penthouse suite! They arrived and walked up to take a look. There was only one bed, but they didn't really mind, they'd shared a bed before. (Imagine the custom apartment in GTA Online with the Vibrant interior.)

Naruto stood looking out the window at the village, he then set his hear down and started doing upkeep on his gloves, while Muse took some time to explore the space. Naruto's gloves were very interesting... If anyone who knew the basics of Eco saw his fight, they would wonder how he was able to just use Eco at will without a source, well he did. His gloves. It was something that he and Keira had worked months on to perfect. They had studied Eco vents and tried to reverse engineer them, and they succeeded. The two miniaturized vents on Naruto's forearms were reversed, they drew whatever Eco Naruto wanted in from the Nature energy all around them, while the ones on the back of his hands released excess Eco back into nature after it had circulated through Naruto's system, or he was done with it.

After making sure that the vents were working properly, Naruto sat down on the couch, thinking about what all had happened. Keira sat down next to him, "Are you okay? Being here I mean..."

Naruto sighed and nodded, "I'm fine. Just a little nervous..."

Keira gave him a bright smile, "Well you're not alone! I'm here to keep you company!"

The blonde smiled, "Yeah, thanks Keira."

* * *

 _With Iruka - After Naruto and Keira left._

The academy instructor was walking into the Hokage tower with the student's files under his arm. He was still reeling from what he had seen, he could tell that those two could fight, but to beat his trained students that easily?

He walked past the secretary, who smiled at him, "Hey Iruka, how'd the 'test' go?"

He didn't even look at her, "Those two destroyed Ino and Sasuke with barely any effort." Her jaw dropped to the ground.

Iruka knocked on the door to the Council chambers and waited for the Hokage's voice telling him to enter. He walked in to see Minato, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Kushina, the council. and all the Jounin sensei waiting for him. Minato raised an eyebrow, "You're late Iruka, what happened?"

"Something unexpected happened... Two kids showed up, a boy and a girl, the secretary sent them to me to get a freelance test, so I set up some matches between them and Ino Yamanaka as well as Sasuke Uchiha." They all raised a brow at this.

Jiraiya put a hand on his chin, "How'd they do, did they at least hold on for long enough to make the cut?"

Iruka sighed as he thought about how to word this... "Ino was beaten like a gennin taking on a jounin, her opponent threw her around like a ragdoll, then slammed a shield into her, knocking her down and out. Sasuke was utterly destroyed, his opponent moved so fast he scorched the ground and then punched through Sasuke's fireball with a fist covered in yellow fire."

There wasn't a single eye that wasn't widened. Minato narrowed his eyes and said, "Tell us everything..."

* * *

 _Later - Namikaze Estate._

Minato walked into the house and walked into the kitchen to find his wife making dinner. The kids were out in the backyard training, "Kushina. We need to talk."

She turned and saw the serous look on her husband's face, then made a Kage Bunshin to continue dinner as she followed Minato up to their room. When they got their, he turned to her and said, "Today, a boy came to the academy for a freelance test... His name is Naruto Hagai..."

Kushina's eyes widened as she understood, "Naruto? Is it... Is it out Naruto?"

Minato shook his head, "I'm not sure, he was blonde according to Iruka, but I can't be 100 percent sure yet..."

The redhead put her hands up to her face and started praying to every god she knew that this was her baby boy... They knew the mistakes they made with Naruto... They just wanted his siblings to be strong enough that they wouldn't hurt him or themselves later, but they just got so caught up with training his siblings that they just couldn't find the time to be with Naruto. Over time they actually forgot about him... Then they were shattered when they realized that he had left the village. They knew that it was nobody's fault but their own...

They could only hope tht this was him, and that he would let them make up for their mistakes...

* * *

 _With Naruto._

As our blonde hero was polishing his sword, he couldn't help but feel like things were about to get much more complicated... He looked down at Muse, "What do you think we should do?"

She merely gave him a small lick on his cheek and jumped into his lap to sleep. He shook his head, "Just relax and go with the flow? I like your style Muse...

* * *

 _ **Chapter End!**_

Finally... Well that definitely helped get my block out... Again, I'm so sorry about the long wait. So, tell me what you think of the new story! I do like hearing what people think, but please no flames or just all around bad reviews... If you don't like something fine, but please don't leave a review all about it. At least make it constructive criticism.

Anyway, once again, hope you guys liked it!

Review please!


	2. Chapter 2

_**Important!**_ I reuploaded this chapter like 3 hours after publishing it because I noticed some issues, like how I sometimes called Hikaru, 'Amaru'. So I just went back and fixed those.

Alrighty, new chapter. I'm glad that people seem to like the story! So, a couple things...

Naruto doesn't hate his family or extended family, he feels indifferent to them now. If he ever forgives any of them, he will not make it easy. Even if he does forgive his parents in the end, he won't be a regular member of the family anymore. I always imagined sages not letting their emotions consume them, and Naruto is a sage in training in this story. He certainly doesn't like his family, but he believes in an 'eye for an eye' principal. If they didn't care about him, why should he waist time caring about them or even concerning himself with them?

Also, I kinda changed the designs of the Jak and Daxter characters. Like, Samos looks more like an eccentric old man, not his design in the original games, since he'd be out of place even in the Naruto-verse. Keira for example, looks like what she would be if she was drawn in Naruto style. Just wanted to let you guys know.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Jak and Daxter, nor any other media that may appear in this or any other story.

* * *

 _Naruto and Keira's apartment - Morning of Graduation Exams._

Keira had just gotten done getting dressed after showering and going through her morning routine. She walked over to the armory/gym room in their apartment, (An enlarged heist planning room) and saw Naruto lifting weights. He was doing bench presses with a kage bunshin as his spotter, he had taken a scroll on jutsu from the Namikaze estate when he left, and Muse sitting on the bar swishing her tail back and forth, also holding a wet cloth in her mouth, swiping it across Naruto's brow every now and again.

"... 99, 100!" Naruto said as he placed the bar back on the press. He then sat up and took a few deep breaths, taking a towel from a table next to him to wipe his face off. He turned to Keira and took the cloth from Muse and throwing it over his shoulders, "Hey Keira. You done in the bathroom?"

Keira, having grown used to seeing a shirtless Naruto just nodded, "Yeah, you can go ahead now. I'll get started on breakfast."

The blonde nodded as Muse hopped down to follow Keira.

A while later, Naruto descended the steps in his usual attire, but his hood was down for now. The two and Muse had a simple breakfast of bacon and eggs, toast, and orange juice. Funny thing, Muse could eat regular human food with no repercussions, not even an upset stomach. After they ate and got all their stuff together, they headed out for the academy. On the way, they received some looks from the villagers. It appeared that someone let slip how they'd beat some clan heirs in their tests. They ignored the looks and made it to the academy, when they walked into class, they only saw a few people. One of them being Ino Yamanaka, who immediately huffed upon seeing them and looked away.

As the two walked up to their seats, Keira stopped next to the brooding Yamanaka and gave her a smile, "Hey, can I ask you something?"

Ino looked at her and sighed, "What?"

"Why were you holding back when we fought?"

Ino got a confused expression and said, "What do you mean? I was really trying..."

Keira flinched and said, "Oh... I'm sorry, I guess that I was so used to hearing about how strong Konoha is that I guess I set my standards too high... Sorry!" With that, she walked up to where Naruto was sitting.

Ino then took a second to think to herself, _"Too high? Was I really that bad? No, I've been training as hard as I could!"_ She then recalled how her father and his friends would be talking about all the broken bones, all the blood, sweat, and tears that went into them just getting out of the academy. Then she thought about how she hadn't put in hardly any extra training... _"Who am I kidding... I've spent all my time trying to look good for Sasuke, I've been comparing myself to all the other girls here, but all of them are fangirls like me... Well, except Hinata but she's got her own issues... I thought I was strong because I'm near the top in physical skill in this class... Maybe it's not that Naruko and Keira are obscenely strong, maybe it's that I'm just weak..."_ With that, Ino decided to take a long hard look at her life that night. When Sakura came in, she saw how her rival was deep in thought, and decided to ask. Well, she received a bit of a wake up call herself after hearing Ino's revelation.

Meanwhile Naruto was having a small conversation with the girl next to him, a shy Hyuga girl who seemed to have a crush on Menma. She seemed to be the only girl in the class, other than Naruko, who wasn't a crazed fangirl. He had asked her about the other people in the class, he was a bit surprised that he was in the class of all clan heirs.

Keira came up after talking to Ino and took a spot on the other side of Naruto, then tried to start up a conversation with Hinata, "Hi there! I'm Keira Hagai."

"H-Hinata H-Hyuga... N-nice to m-meet you K-keira-san." The shy girl said with a stutter.

The three continued talking, about the village, what the academy taught... Until the rest of the class and Iruka came in, "Alright class, time to begin the exams!" He then looked at Naruto and Keira, "You two don't have to take it, but you can if you want." Naruto and Keira decided to forego the the test, instead content to watch everyone else do it. Once everything was all said and done, Only the clan heirs, and a few civilian kids had made the cut. Iruka looked at them and said, "Well done, all of you. Bow you can all head home, the team assignments will be in two weeks. Be here then!"

Naruto and Keira were walking down the street when he suddenly stopped and turned to Keira, "... Head back to the apartment without me. I've gotta take care of something..."

Keira looked back and saw the seriousness in Naruto's eyes, then nodded as Muse hopped onto her shoulders, and she walked back, leaving Naruto standing in the street.

The blonde dropped his smile and turned to look into the dark alley next to him. He walked into it and headed all the way to the dead end about a dozen yards back. He stood there for a few minutes before he spoke, "Get out here already, Naruko."

Said blonde dropped down from the rooftops in front of him and gave a small chuckle, "I should have known you'd sense me, after all..." She lifted up her shirt to show her seal, making a bit of Kurama's chakra seep out of her hand, "We share a connection deeper than we both knew..."

Naruto took his hood off and gave her a hard stare, "What do you want Naruko?"

She simply held her pleasant smile, "What do I want? Such an interesting question... I want many things. To become the strongest ninja in history, to learn everything this world has to offer, but above all..." She suddenly appeared next to Naruto, whispering in his ear, "I want to rule this world... But I'll need help to do it." She leaned back and placed her hands on his chest, massaging it sensually. The look in her eye, it was of someone who knew they were going insane, and accepted it wholeheartedly."What do you say? Help me and we'll have everything we've ever wanted, you can have the love and respect you deserve, the world on a plate... What do you say, O~nii~chan?"

Naruto grabbed her wrists and pushed her back, "Not interested." With that he turned to walk away. Just before he left the alley, he pulled his hood up and turned back to see Naruko watching him with a disappointed look, "What happened to you Naruko?"

She smiled at him, and just for a second... She looked like the happy go lucky girl she should have been... Before her dark look returned, "I learned the truth about this world... Watching the way our parents went about raising us, the choices they made, and the choices made by others in the world, all throughout history. I listened to Jiraiya talk about how his dream was to bring peace to the world, to give everyone something to fight for, and I came to a conclusion..." At this, her face took on a tired expression, showing someone far more burdened with the problems of the world than she should be, "Choice breeds hatred, when someone makes a choice, they make it in the best interest of one side or the other. Someone always ends up getting the raw end of the deal, leading to hatred, as long as choice exists in this world, so too will hatred. That's why I want to rule this world... I will make all the decisions, and take all the blame for the consequences. Nobody will fight each other because they will have a common enemy... Me." She gained her smile back and placed her hands on her cheeks like she was in a fantasy, one of her eyes bleeding into the red of Kurama, "I'll become the one that binds the world together, everyone will find a common enemy in me, and they'll come together to oppose me. Should I die... It was worth it to make people stop fighting... If only for a little bit..." She was in tears at this. She then wiped them away before giving a small smile and using a shunshin to leave the alley.

Naruto stood there, his eyes widened as he processed everything he had just heard, "Naruko... Man, this world really is fucked up..."

* * *

 _The next day._

Naruto sat in his seat at the academy, still thinking about his meeting with Naruko the previous night, _"I don't care how severe her mental problems are, that was way to weird... Looking at her now, you'd think she was the sunshine of the world..."_ It was true, Naruko was laughing and smiling like those thoughts were nothing but a fleeting idea tossed away purely due to it's absurdity... But Naruto knew, she was completely serious... or at least, part of her was.

Meanwhile, Kurama was closely examining the girl, before speaking to his container, **_"Kit, I want you to be absolutely sure... Her eye was turning red?"_**

Naruto gave a mental nod, _"For the thousandth time yes! Do you know what's happened to her?"_

The titanic fox closed it's eyes and thought for a moment before answering, **_"I have a theory... But as of now, it's only that, just give me more time to feel her out. I agree that it was too strange to be a normal mental disorder. Then again, it could be just that, maybe a severe case of Schizophrenia. I don't know yet. There's a small window between your seal and hers, I'm using it to look through her mindscape. I'll let you know when I find something..."_**

Naruto nodded as Keira looked over to him in worry. He had told her about what happened, and it was something that he was worried about... Mostly because it wasn't just a dream of hers, she fully intended to do it, "Naruto, you okay?"

He gave her a small smile and said, "Yeah, sorry. Kurama's working on finding out what's going on, I'll just have to wait for him..."

It was then that Naruto felt someone put their arm around his shoulder, he glanced over to see Menma giving him a toothy smile, "Hey there! I just wanted to say that I saw you checking out Naruko, and I feel that it's my duty to warn you... She will murder you if you ask her out, I don't know what it is, but she denies all propositions with a violent no. Sasuke asked her out once, she broke his arm! Anyway, if you manage to mellow her out, then kudos! Just wanted to help you out." He then gave Naruto a pat on the back and walked down to his seat. As he walked, he passed Hinata, who blushed at seeing him, he also had a blush. It seemed like they had a thing for each other.

When she got up to them, Keira decided to strike up a conversation, "So, you like Menma?" Hinata nodded, but there was something... strange about it, which Keira noticed, "Is there something wrong? You can tell me, I can keep a secret." She finished with a warm smile.

Hinata looked down to her lap and fidgeted a bit before speaking, "S-something's just... wrong w-with i-it... I g-got my c-c-crush on h-him when h-he saved m-me from s-some b-bullies when I w-was seven..." For some reason, Keira had this air that made you trust her, Naruto had also fallen prey to it when she wanted him to talk about his childhood. Muse also helped by hopping into Hinata's lap and meowing at her, "I w-was so a-amazed that h-he could s-stand up t-to them, I k-kinda followed h-him around for a wh-while after, t-then a-after we t-turned e-eleven... s-something was wrong, whenever I l-looked at h-him, that l-little spark was g-gone... I n-never felt it a-again, though I s-still have f-feelings for h-him..."

Keira had a little quiver in her lip as she sniffled, "That is so romantic, and tragic!"

Naruto was preoccupied with something else... Her story about being saved from the bullies gave him a weird sense of deja-vu. Hinata then started recollecting again, "I w-wonder what h-happened to h-his whisker m-marks though... I a-always thought that t-they were a-adorable..."

At this, Keira and Naruto both stiffened, Naruto's mind suddenly clicked, _"She's the Hyuga girl I helped!? Her hair is so long now that I didn't even recognize her! She must not have known about me and Menma..."_

Keira was also thinking... She had started to form a friendship with the shy Hyuga and she didn't want a love rivalry to ruin it, _"Damn... What to do... Maybe we could share him, would that work? Actually that's a pretty good idea! I've always wanted a big family, and Hinata's probably familiar with polygamy, being from a large and important clan. I know that Naruto can handle it. Hell, he has excess affection to give sometimes."_ With that, Keira started to think of a way to suggest it to her two friends.

Iruka then walked into the classroom with a clipboard, "Alright everyone! It's time for team assignments! Ah, before I forget..." He then tossed a headband to Naruto and one to Keira. Naruto ties his around his neck, and Keira tied hers around her waist like a belt. After everyone had calmed down, Iruka gave them a heartfelt speech about what it meant to be ninja, and how he was proud of each and every one of them. Even though Naruto and Keira weren't technically students of his, even they felt a little more confident from it, "Alright, Team 1..." Naruto tuned it out until the important names were called, "Team 7, Menma Namikaze, Naruko Namikaze, and Sasuke Uchiha, led by Kakashi Hatake." Menma looked excited at being taught by his older brother figure, Naruko just kept up her facade, and Sasuke was indifferent, "Team 8, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Sakura Haruno, led by Kurenai Yuhi." Sakura was saddened at not being on Sasuke's team, Shino was... well Shino, and Kiba just smirked, "Team 9 is still in circulation, Team 10 will be Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Chouji Akamichi, led by Asuma Sarutobi." Shikamaru and Chouji didn't show any real reaction, and Ino took a deep breath, resolving herself to start working hard, "Lastly, team 11, Naruto Hagai, Keira Hagai, and Hinata Hyuga, led by Anko Mitarashi." The three were pretty happy that they'd been placed on the same team.

As Iruka was about to give one last lesson to his students, a ball of canvas shot through the window and exploded into smoke, revealing a banner pinned to the wall which read, 'The sexy Anko Mitarashi-sama has arrived!' Standing in front of the banner was a purple haired Kunoichi in a very... revealing outfit, "Hello~ Munchkins! Where are my government sanctioned target dummies?" At this, Naruto, Keira and Hinata stood up, "Alright! Follow me!" She then jumped out the window, making the three new gennin follow her. The rest of the class looked over to see Iruka still trapped behind the banner, leading to a mass sweatdrop.

* * *

 _Training ground 11._

The three new gennin of team 11 arrived in the training ground to see Anko munching on some dango, she gave them an appraising eye and said, "Not bad, you're not out of breath, that's good. Now, let's get down to brass tacks. It's time for your real gennin test!" At their confused expression, she gained a sadistic smile, "That academy test was just to see if you had the potential, this determines if you truly make it." Receiving nods from them, she continued, pulling out two bells, "You have to get these bells from me, notice that there are two... That's because one of you will be getting sent back no matter what!" She explained in an all to chipper tone.

Once she saw them all get into fighting stances, she merely gave them another smile and said, "Bye!" With that, they all disappeared. She took another stick of dango and kept munching away.

Meanwhile in the forest, clones of Naruto had just arrived with Keira and Hinata, "I assume you two have figured out the true meaning of the test?" Keira nodded, as did Hinata, looking quite pleased with herself, "Okay, so what are we gonna do?"

Hinata was the one who came up with the winning plan, it was quick, simple, and effective.

* * *

Anko had just finished her dango and barely dodged the lightning fast punch to her jaw. She looked around to see a blur of blue streaking throughout the clearing, it as clearly Naruto. It appeared that he was trying some hit and run tactics... After dodging a few more hits, she heard a scraping sound, then turned to see Keira rushing her with her shield out. As Anko jumped over the rush, she saw that Keira wasn't there! Instead she came face to face with a Jyuken strike aimed at her face from Hinata.

Anko went on the defensive, blocking a surprisingly fierce attack from Hinata, and avoiding Naruto's lightning fast hits.

Meanwhile, in the trees, Keira hefted a large Fuma Shuriken and took careful aim... Before spinning it and sending it flying straight toward Anko. She then took out a scroll, laid it out in front of her, and stomped on it, sending tons of weapons into the air. She then started grabbing them and throwing them with deadly accuracy, they passed the shuriken and made their way toward Anko.

The jounin looked to the side and immediately noticed the stream of weapons headed her way. So she kicked Hinata back and started deflecting them with her own kunai. After she had knocked all of them away, she dodged the fuma shuriken, and blocked a hit from Hinata, who, in a surprise move, grabbed Anko's arm to immobilize it. Then Naruto also grabbed her other arm, the real surprise came when the fuma shuriken transformed into another Naruto! Who quickly snagged the bells.

Hinata released Anko, and the Naruto on her arm exploded into smoke. Keira ran out and high-fived her teammates while Anko gained a small smile, "Not bad brats, not bad at all... Since you've obviously figured out the meaning of the test, you pass!" She let her new gennin celebrate for a few minutes before continuing, "Be here tomorrow for more tort- I mean training hehehe~"

Naruto and the others shuddered before leaving the training ground. But just before Anko was about to bite into her dango, she felt something on her lap. She looked down to see Muse... She had her ears down, and was looking up as Anko with big sad eyes... The jounin could even swear she heard piano music from somewhere... "Not a chance furball."

Muse gave an angry meow as Anko smirked, she then took a bite of her dango. Or at least she would have, but when she opened her eyes, there was no dango in her hand... She looked around frantically, only to see Muse running away with her dango! "GET BACK HERE BEFORE I TURN YOU INTO A SCARF YOU LITTLE PEST!"

* * *

 _A couple months later._

Team 11 was in the Hokage's office getting another mission, they had been doing D-ranks for the past couple months, much to Anko's dismay... As Minato was looking through the available missions, he noticed that Anko was crying anime tears, and even the gennin were bored out of their skulls. He looked through the available missions and decided that maybe they were ready for a higher rank mission, _"The question is, what mission should I give them? Naruto and Keira are obviously above normal gennin strength, possibly chunin, and Hinata has been growing by leaps and bounds under Anko's teachings... Hmmm, this one looks good, it's a B-rank, but it shouldn't be too bad, the only trouble should be bandits and the odd rogue ninja... Anko can handle them easy enough, and the gennin are very strong as a team... Alright then, it's decided."_ He picked up a scroll and gave them a small smile, "How about a B-rank escort mission?"

Anko perked up and looked like it was Christmas, "Really!? Hell yeah! No more chores, Hallelujah!" She then did a little happy dance, making everyone sweatdrop.

Hinata spoke up, "H-hokage-sama, are y-you sure w-we're r-ready for a B-r-rank?" Even with the new skills she had, and the extra confidence from Naruto and Keira, she was still very insecure...

Minato nodded, "I'm sure you'll do fine. Your mission is to protect Michiru, the prince of Tsuki no Kuni on the final push of his world travels. The last few guards quit because they didn't like the way they were treated, but I hope you four can handle it."

Anko then gained small stars in her eyes, "We get to go to Tsuki no Kuni!? Not only that, but we're getting paid to do it!? Casinos, gambling, and the best booze this side of anywhere here I come!" She said with a fist pump.

The blonde Hokage sweatdropped again and explained the details, "You just have to keep him safe until he gets back home, also his son. Their trip is almost over anyway, a few more weeks of travel and it'll be back home." He then pulled out a map of the Nations and put his finger on a point where Kawa no Kuni, Ame no Kuni, and Kaze no Kuni met, "They're waiting for you at a trading post here, just stay with them until they get to the port town at the sea, and when they're safe in the castle in Tsuki, the mission is over."

Anko, now recovered, turned to her gennin with a gleam of excitement in her eye, "Alright brats, grab your gear and meet me at the west gate! I must prepare, TO THE ANKO CAVE!" With that, the eccentric jounin shunshined off.

Minato shook his head at her antics, "Well, you heard her, meet at the gate in an hour, now you'd best head off and get ready." As he watched them leave, he narrowed his eyes as he thought of this Naruto boy... Obviously he had suspicions that this Naruto was his son, but since he always had that hood up, there was no way to know for sure... Hopefully he'd find out sometime, he was having a hard time keeping Kushina back from tracking him down and finding out herself...

* * *

 _With Naruto and Keira._

We now find out two heroes packing up for their trip, Keira was shaking with excitement, "Can you believe that we're gonna be guarding royalty!? This is so exciting!"

Naruto chuckled at her enthusiasm and slipped a scroll into a pocket on his thigh, Keira doing the same with her own scroll into her own pocket, "Still, we'll need to be careful. There's a reason they need protection, and I'll bet that someone's gonna try something..."

She nodded, "Yeah, I'm just excited. Now, let's go get Hinata and head to the gate!"

At his nod, they walked over to the Hyuga compound and waited for their teammate. Pretty soon, Hinata walked out wearing her usual outfit. With that, the three headed to the west gate to meet Anko. When they arrived, she wasted no time in getting them going, they ran at chunin level speed to make it there before nightfall.

* * *

They ended up getting there around sunset, and then they went to meet their client, who was... not what they were expecting...

"Ah, so you're the ninja Konoha sent to protect us?" Spoke a heavyset man wearing noble clothes, before he seemed to try to put on the charm with the girls, "How lucky am I to have such beautiful guards!"

Anko sighed, "Sorry prince Michiru, but we're just here to escort you home, nothing else."

The prince chuckled good naturedly and shrugged, "Well, can't blame me for trying! Allow me to introduce you to my son Hikaru... Huh? Where is he?"

At that moment, Naruto reached up and grabbed a toy arrow just as it was about to stick onto his headband. He looked over to see a young boy with glasses and a toy bow, the kid seemed to be giving him a superior look. Naruto tossed the arrow back to him and inwardly groaned, _"I can tell this mission is gonna be trouble..."_

After Anko had finished talking business with Michiru, they all retired to a few beds in a wagon specifically for the guards.

* * *

 _One week later._

Naruto was sitting atop the prince's personal carriage, looking around for any trouble, Muse watching whatever side was opposite his view. He glanced back to see Keira and Hinata walking along the sides, also keeping watch, then down to Anko speaking with the prince. It seemed like Michiru was curious about the hierarchy of a hidden village... He watched as Hinata was sweating up a storm in her jacket, they were in a desert after all. Finally, she took it off, revealing a shirt that would make Anko proud, it was completely mesh see through except the part over her chest, making it look like a tubetop. It seemed that her need to cool off exceeded her insecurity... Anyway as the group kept going, they spotted a large circus tent on the horizon, and Michiru decided to stop and watch.

Naruto, Keira, Hinata, and even Anko were having a nice time watching the circus, they had tons of acts, acrobatics, clowns, animal acts. The ringmaster had even tried to buy Muse off of Naruto. Needless to say, it didn't work. Now it was time for their best performance, an archer would shoot an apple held by a monkey that was balancing on a sabertooth tiger's head. As the archer lined up his shot, a toy arrow zoomed out of the stands and nailed the apple, scaring the monkey half to death.

Everyone looked to see Hikaru standing there, obviously the one who shot the arrow. The ringmaster gave him some praise, then one thing led to another and Michiru ended up buying the whole damn circus.

After a few more days of traveling, they had arrived at a port city that would take them to Tsuki. On the way to the harbor, Michiru decided to take a detour for something, what it was, they didn't know. He eventually got to a small house near the waterfront, the team immediately noticed the woman outside working in a garden. Michiru got out and greeted her, "Amayo!"

She was confused until she noticed Hikaru looking shyly at her, then she turned to Michiru, "When did you get so huge!?" Michiru face-faulted.

Hikaru noticed the team's confused expression and said, "She's my mother... She and father got divorced a long time ago..."

A few minutes later, Michiru left the house with a red mark on his cheek, mumbling about wondering what was really important. Naruto and the team were able to pick up what happened, it appeared that Amayo left Michiru because she couldn't stand how materialistic he was. It was plain to see that both members of the royal family suffered from the delusion that money could buy happiness.

Later that day, it was sunset, and the team was waiting for the boat to be ready to depart. Just when Anko was about to tell her team to board, a heavy mist settled onto the dock. She carefully looked around and said, "Everyone on the boat, we're leaving now..."

The gennin noticed the edge in her voice and got onto the ship, telling the captain to get going, and so he did. While they were sailing, Anko was seriously bothered that the mist wasn't going away... It was much to thick and quick in coming on to be natural...

Hinata ran up to her, Byakugan activated, with Naruto and Keira, then spoke in a hurried tone, "Sensei, this mist is laced with chakra!"

That did it, Anko immediately yelled out, "Everyone inside now!" Thankfully everyone was smart enough to listen to the jounin, and that all ran into the ship. Just as Anko and her team ducked. They all looked up to see an enormous sword buried in the wall of the captain's quarters, with a man standing on the handle.

Anko narrowed her eyes, "Zabuza Momochi..." Then she spoke to her team, "Get inside and protect everyone, I'll handle him." At that, Naruto, Keira, and Hinata raced inside to Michiru and Amaru's headquarters.

The ninja chuckled and jumped down, pulling his sword out of the wall, "You'll handle me? Quite the tough talk, I've of course heard of you, the snake mistress of Konoha... This'll be fun."

Anko nodded with a sadistic smile, "I couldn't agree more... So, who hired you?"

Zabuza laughed again, "Not that easy. But I will conform what you obviously already believe, we were sent to take out the prince, his kid too. I don't like killing kids... But I need the cash..." He threw the sword over his shoulder and charged.

Anko pulled out a tanto and started using it to slide some of the strikes away, the others, she was forced to dodge. They continued for a while before another Zabuza appeared out of the mist and kicked Anko away, but she righted herself and went through a few handsigns, launching her jutsu when she hit the ground, **"Katon: Hosenka!"** She launched a barrage of small fireballs at her opponent, destroying his clone, but Zabuza was able to dodge them.

Zabuza then made another water clone which went through it's own handsigns as the original charged. As Anko and Zabuza had another close quarters battle, the clone finished it's jutsu, **"Suiton: Suiryudan!"** Anko cursed as she saw the water dragon speeding toward her, so she made a quick substitution with a crate on deck and dropped to the ground to dodge it. But, Zabuza appeared beside her and stuck his hand into the dragon!

 **"Suiton: Suiro!"** Anko then found herself trapped in a sphere of water, while Zabuza gave a sinister chuckle, "Well that was fun while it lasted, but this is where our little dance ends..." He raised his blade to deliver the final blow, but stopped when he saw Anko smirk.

She then said, " **Bunshin Daibakuha!"**

Zabuza's eyes widened as he tried to jump away, unfortunately, he still got clipped by the explosion and crashed into the ship's railing, giving it a large dent. He was about to continue the battle, until something crashed through the ship's deck, when he saw what it was, he cursed.

* * *

 _With Naruto, Keira, and Hinata, after Anko told them to head inside._

As the three were running through the hallways, Hinata suddenly widened her eyes and said, "Watch out, behind us!"

They all turned and dodged the senbon needles aimed for them by jumping into a closet. Keira looked at them and said, "Senbon are usually used to his pressure points, and we're dealing with someone who knows how to use them..."

Naruto nodded and said, "I'll take care of this, you two protect Michiru and Hikaru." He pulsed a little green Eco to refresh himself, "Keira nodded, knowing that green Eco would heal his pressure points, and grabbed Hinata, running for the royal family's quarters. As they heard the whistling of senbon aimed at them, Naruto stepped out with his sword drawn and blocked them, "You're fighting me now." Muse jumped down to the floor and went back into the closet to watch, she was not good in a straight fight... What looked to be a girl dressed in green robes walked into the hall and said, "I really don't want to have to kill you... Please just step aside and let me pass."

Naruto shook his head, "No can do. You know as well as I do is that I can't let you pass me."

She nodded with a saddened expression, "May I know your name first?"

Naruto nodded, "Naruto Hagai, yours?"

"Haku." She said with a pleasant smile, before suddenly shooting forward with jounin level speed, ready to stab him with a senbon. Naruto activated his gloves, letting blue lightning run across his body, and he shot forward as well. The two met sword to senbon, and it was easy to see that Haku was losing ground. However, she pushed his sword up and slipped past him under his arm. When she heard him following her, she turned to see him taking a swipe at her. She started jumping backwards as Naruto slashed at her, they were in pretty cramped quarters, so they were limited in terms of jutsu...

Once they had fought down a flight of stairs, Haku suddenly stomped onto the ground and drew some water out of the surrounding wood and from the open window near them, **"Suiton: Sensatsu Suisho!"** She turned the water into a flurry of needles that flew at Naruto, leaving him no room to dodge in the hallway.

However, Naruto was ready with a technique of his own, he placed his hands into gun shapes with his index and middle fingers, then pushed his blue Eco into them, **"Senpou: Ao Danmaku!"** From his fingers fired tons of blue needles, each one clashing with Haku's and destroying them. (It's the Needle Lazer gun from Jak 3 turned into a jutsu) A few stray needles hit here and there. Haku grit her teeth as she felt the sting of a needle cut her cheek.

As if on some unseen signal, the two stopped their techniques and launched at each other, going into a fierce taijutsu battle. Meanwhile, further down the hall, a kneeling Hinata lined up a palm strike with Haku, despite being much to far away to do anything. She locked eyes with Keira, and they both nodded. Keira dropped a special knife, it had a blade like a spearhead, and the pommel was a large flat disk, about the size of a CD. When it was in front of Hinata, she thrust her palm forward and hit the disk, sending it rocketing forward toward Haku, the force of the attach sending a gust of wind, blowing Naruto's hood off.

The Hyoton user heard it coming and jumped to the side to dodge, but when she turned back, Naruto had taken full advantage of her losing focus on him, and had sent an uppercut straight to her gut, sending her crashing through the ship until she fell onto the deck. Naruto let the red Eco fade from his arm and jumped up to follow her.

Keira cheered a bit, "Yes! We beat her! Come on Hinata!" When her shy friend wasn't following, Keira turned back to see Hinata looking like her whole world was tuned upside down. Then Keira remembered that Naruto's hood was blown off, "Oh... Well damn..."

Hinata gave Keira a pleading look, "P-please e-explain what's g-going on..."

Keira sighed with an exasperated smile and hoped Naruto wouldn't be upset with her for revealing some things to Hinata. Then Hikaru blew past them and was running up to the deck, they both gave each other a look before racing after him.

* * *

When Naruto climbed up to the deck, he saw Zabuza putting Haku over his shoulder, then Zabuza said, "This isn't over..." The mist thickened around him, and when it cleared, the two were gone. However, Zabuza left them a parting gift, a massive waterfall coming and crashing into the ship, knocking everyone on their ass.

When Naruto regained his senses, he looked around. The first thing he noticed were some crates going overboard, the second was Hikaru trying to pull the tiger back onto the ship. Naruto ran over and used red Eco to grab the Tiger's vest and hold onto it. Hikaru looked up with surprise and Naruto gave him a small smile, "I knew you weren't as cold as you made yourself out to be... I guess you're learning."

Hikaru got confused as Naruto, with Muse's unneeded help, pulled Chamu back onto the ship, "Learning what?"

"What's really important kid. Instead of going for your tows and souvenirs, your first thought was to save the Chamu here." He then gave the tiger a pat on the head, which it enjoyed. Due to his sage training, Naruto had a way with animals. As Hikaru went to pet him, Chamu growled, but Naruto calmed him down, Hikaru reached out and took a few cautious swipes of Chamu's head. The tiger got used to it and Naruto left the two there to talk with Anko.

When he got to her, she looked him over and said, "Two things, what the hell happened down there? Also, please explain why the Yondaime's lost son is acting like a foreign kid looking to be a ninja."

Naruto sighed as he was forced to explain. Anko waited until he was done and sighed, "Alright, I get why you left... I won't say anything to Hokage-sama. But you're probably gonna have to explain to her." She pointed to someone behind Naruto.

When the blonde turned, he was met with a teary-eyed Hinata, who had apparently heard everything. Keira stood behind her, and she nodded to Naruto, telling him that she knew. Naruto looked at Hinata and said, "Sorry Hinata... I was trying to find a way to tell you... But I guess it's put now, so, are we still friends?"

Hinata gave a teary smile and blushed like a tomato, _"There it is, that's the spark I felt... It's really him!"_

Keira noticed the look in Hinata's eye and reaffirmed her belief that she'd need to talk to Hinata. Anko saw that their moment was over and spoke up, "Alright listen up!" Michiru, who had come out after Hikaru, Hikaru himself, and pretty much everyone, listened to Anko, "Those two were hired by someone to take out the prince and Hikaru. I have a feeling that it was someone in Tsuki no Kuni, so everyone be on guard, get it!?"

Everyone nodded as they all prepared for the worst. Michiru and Hikaru walked up to them, Michiru was understandably shaken, "You really think someone at home hired them?"

Anko nodded, "You said that nobody outside the country knew you were on this trip. It's probably someone trying to seize power... We'll get to the castle and talk with the king about who it might be." For now, just head inside and get some sleep. You'll probably need it..."

Michiru nodded as he lead Hikaru, and now Chamu, back into the ship. The monkey also hopped onto Chamu's head, going along for the ride. Anko looked at her gennin, "You three too, go on!" Naruto picked Muse up and started to pet her on the way to their room in the ship. Naruto left Muse in the room and left to find some tools, he wanted to try and modify the gloves to where he didn't have to check them after every fight.

After the girls had changed into their sleeping attire, a lace nightgown for Keira and a rather small t-shirt and short exercise shorts for Hinata, Keira decided to talk to Hinata about Naruto, "You still have a crush on Naruto don't you?"

Hinata nodded a bit, "At first it was a little strange... But I really do... It explains why I never felt the same affection for Menma. I never realized but I only feel friendship for him, but with Naruto it's something more... from the second his hood came down and I saw his face, I felt my heart racing, everything finally makes sense now!" She was so happy that she hadn't noticed that her stutter had gone away.

Keira gave her a smile, "Awesome! Now we'll need to figure out our relationship."

Hinata looked at her confused, before her eyes widened in realization, "I see... You like him too... I should have known. Well you know him mush better than I do... If you tell me, I'll back off and leave you two alone..."

The elf-eared girl shook her head with a smile, "It's not that! Well, I do have feelings for him, but I don't want you to be forced to stay away if you have feelings as well. I was thinking about sharing him."

Hinata's eyes went wide and her jaw dropped, "Eh? Share?" She wasn't unfamiliar with the polygamy concept. After all, the heirs of all major clans in Konoha are taught about it in their lessons to prepare them for all possibilities when running the clan, and she was no exception, despite how the clan elders thought of her. She looked down and started fiddling with her fingers, "Well... I guess I could... try it..."

Keira could easily spot her nervousness, and was able to guess at her reasons, "Don't worry Hinata! If we reveal Narto's Eco abilities then it might be enough to put him under the Clan Creation Act, then there'll be no legal problem, and don't worry about if Naruto will play favorites. I promise you that once you two know each other better, then he'll care about you just as much as he does me."

The Hyuga girl nodded with a small smile. It was then that Naruto returned to the room with a toolbox, also changed into his sleepwear, some simple pajama bottoms, "Hey girls, I'm just gonna be tinkering with my gloves for a bit..."

Keira looked over to Hinata and nodded, "Hey Naruto, we want to talk to you about something..."

He looked up from taking some precursor metal out of his scroll, "Sure, talk away, I'm listening."

"How would you feel about dating me and Hinata?"

Naruto stopped, and turned to look at them, "What?" He said, like he didn't hear them.

Keira repeated herself while Hinata tied to hide her tomato red face, "How would you feel about dating me and Hinata?"

Naruto looked at the two of them and sputtered out, "What brought this on!?"

Hinata was the one who spoke up this time, "We got to talking about how we both have feelings for you... Then Keira asked if I wanted to... well..."

At this, Keira took over, "We knew that we would end up dating eventually, why not just add Hinata into the mix?"

Naruto took a few moments to process everything he'd heard, "Well... I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't like it... But I guess if you two are okay with it then I'm willing to try. If you two want we can start officially dating after the mission is over." he said with a smile.

The girls both nodded with smiles of their own, then they heard Anko's voice from the other side of the door, "As much fun as it is listening to you kids planning some kinky nights when we get back to the village, it's time to sleep!"

With that, all three gennin blushed and settled down to get some rest. After all, once the ship docked the next day, they'd be facing whoever hired Zabuza and Haku...

* * *

 _ **Chapter end!**_

Okay, there's the second chapter. I wanted to really change this story up from my others, so I hope you like that I've done. People really seemed to like the first chapter, so I want to keep it going! I blended the Moon and Wave missions together, because I wanted Zabuza and Haku to show up, and also because I feel like the Moon mission is never written into any stories, it's one of my favorite Naruto movies.

What's wrong with Naruko? Is she schizophrenic? Is she just insane? Is someone controlling her? You'll just have to wait and see...

Anyway, some people asked some questions about the story...

Naruto will get Dark and Light Eco powers, but not for a while, at least not until the chunin exams.

Naruto doesn't hate any members of his family or extended family, he believes in an 'eye for an eye' principal. If they didn't care about him, then why should he waste energy on them?

The guns from the games won't be showing up, but I compromised by making them jutsu, as shown with Naruto's needle jutsu.

Review Please!


	3. Chapter 3

Okay then, next chapter. I've gotten a flood of ideas for this story so I'll keep going with it until I'm done with it, because I won't even be able to think about my other stories until I do. But I've started on another chapter for Black and white.

Also, a review helped me remember that not everyone has played the things I have, if you don't know what Naruto and Keira's apartment looks like, just look up 'GTA Online eclipse towers suite 3 vibrant' on google and there should be a video tour. Sorry about that... I try not to put things into my stories that can't be looked up.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Jak and Daxter, or any other media that may appear in this or any of my other stories.

* * *

 _Tsuki no Kuni - Path to the Palace._

As the carriage rolled through the streets of the capitol, Team 11 looked around for any sign of Zabuza, Haku, or any other ninja. They had left the circus back at the port, and continued with just themselves. Anko was driving the carriage, Naruto was walking behind it, and Keira and Hinata were on either side. When they finally arrived at the palace, instead of the soldiers welcoming them and helping them into the palace, the soldiers were surrounding them and pointing their weapons threateningly. They forced the prince and Hikaru out of their carriage and down to their knees.

Anko cursed as a noble man with brown hair and a beard came up to the balcony at the front and looked down on them. He grinned at the sight of Michiru and Hikaru, "Why hello there Michiru! Welcome home..."

Michiru looked up at the man, "Shabadaba, what is the meaning of this? Where is father!?"

The now named Shabadaba chuckled maliciously, "I'm afraid his majesty is dead Michiru... He just wouldn't back down when I started my takeover of Tsuki. Always prattling on about helping the poor and weak, it was pathetic! Now then, just come along quietly and I promise, your death will be much quicker than his!"

Just as Team 11 was going to start an escape plan, an armored carriage crashed through the gate to the palace and a man dressed in soldier garb stopped it in front of the prince, "Lord Michiru, Lord Hikaru, get in quickly!" Anothr squad of soldiers came in to hold off the traitorous group while the man collected the prince.

Michiru smiled gratefully at the man, "Captain Korega!" Anko wasted no time in shoving the prince into the carriage and throwing down a smoke bomb. The soldiers tried to recover from the mass confusion caused, and when the smoke cleared, the carriage, ninja, and loyal soldiers were all gone!

Shabadaba twitched as his face contorted in rage, "Dammit!" He then turned to five figures behind him, "Find them! Don't come back unless you have Michiru!" The figures all disappeared in shunshins.

* * *

 _A little while later, coast of Tsuki no Kuni._

The carriage finally stopped at a beach. Korega got down from the drivers seat and helped Michiru and Hikaru out, "My lord, we're going to need you if we want to take back Tsuki... Also, honor the soldiers who stayed behind at the palace to ensure our escape..."

Anko then chuckled, "About that..."

Korega turned to her, and his jaw promptly dropped. Mostly because Naruto was on the back of the carriage, holding the soldiers by the backs of their shirts in his hands, and even a couple in his teeth! Naruto dropped them and let the red Eco fade from his system. Korega then picked his jaw up off the ground, then gained a somber expression, "Lord Michiru, please come with me... There's someone who would like to see you. You as well Lord Hikaru.

Everyone, curious at what he said, followed him into a cave in a cliff face on the beach. When they entered, they noticed all the soldiers sitting about, they were the only loyal ones left... Though it was the old man on the stone bed that caught most of their attention, when Michiru saw him, he ran up, "Father!"

Hikaru also recognized him, "Grandfather!"

The king opened his eyes and gave them a small smile, "Michiru, Hikaru... I had hoped that you two would be spared from this..."

Michiru was confused at this, "What do you mean father?"

The king looked up at the ceiling, "I have known of Shabadaba's intentions for a long time now... But I had hoped that he would see the end that awaited him at the end of his path... But he didn't, and a couple weeks ago,... by the time I decided to do something about him, he had made the first move... He hired five missing ninja... Two from Kiri, and three other wandering ninja..."

Anko nodded, "No doubt that the two Kiri-nin are Zabuza and his accomplice..."

the king nodded, "Ah, Zabuza, that was his name... I saw some honor in him, and in the girl he was with... But the other three, they are ruthless and uncaring... The leader, the redheaded one, did this to me..." With that, he used his free arm to push the blankets off, revealing that his other arm and over half of his body had been petrified and turned into stone.

Korega narrowed his eyes and grit his teeth, "There's no way to reverse it, at least none that we know of..."

Keira's eyes widened as she looked away, "How could someone do something so horrible..."

Naruto came forward, "I may know a way..." He then placed his hand over the king's midsection and used his other hand and put it in the ram sign, **"Senpou: Midori no Yashi."** His hand became alight in green Eco, and it was actually repairing the king's arm! But when he got to his torso, Naruto stopped and jerked his hands away.

Hikaru was shocked and a bit angry, "Why did you stop? He was getting better!"

Naruto shook his head, "Using that technique I can feel out what a person's insides in order to heal them better... Green Eco can heal nearly any injury... but that was too horrible to call it an injury..."At the other's confused looks, he explained, "This technique wasn't made to last a long time... if a person is in this state for too long, their body starts to break down and turn to dust. I felt it... the king's organs are almost totally dust. It's a miracle he's been able to live this long... Maybe if sensei was here, he could do it, but I'm not good enough..."

Hinata activated her Byakugan and nodded with a few tears in her eyes, "N-Naruto is right... H-his chakra s-system is nearly g-gone..."

At this. everyone realized what he was saying, the king was living on borrowed time... He should already be dead, the king gave a sad smile and looked at Naruto, "You shouldn't feel bad... There's nothing wrong with not being able to do something. If your sensei was here, maybe he could, or maybe he'd agree and say it's impossible. It makes no difference now..." He then turned to Michiru and Hikaru, "Come here you two..." When they did, he gave them a warm smile, "The reason I sent you away was to try and keep you safe from this incident... But now that you're back, It's your time..."

Michiru understood what his father was saying, "What!? But father, I can't become king yet! You always told me that I'd be ready to become king when I realized what was truly important, and I don't! I have no idea!"

The king just smiled and said, "But you do, it's just so simple a thing that you can't realize it... But you will. I have faith in you my son... I'm afraid... That I was only holding on... Until I could see you... again... But now I'm..." The king couldn't hold his eyes open anymore and closed them, "I love you both, Michiru, Hikaru..." With that, the king breathed his last and slipped away...

* * *

 _In the palace, throne room._

Shabadaba looked down at the five missing ninja in front of him and said, "I want them found, scour every inch of the island! I want Michiru brought to me alive, the boy, I could do with his head or whatever, just so long as he's dead..."

Ishidate looked over to Zabuza with a smirk, "So Zabuza, what do you say? A little game to see who can bring in more heads?"

Zabuza merely sneered at the rogue, "Screw off Ishidate." With that, the two Kiri-nin left. As they were walking through the halls, Zabuza turned to his companion, "Haku, I want you to be completely honest with me... That's an order."

"Zabuza-sama?" Haku questioned, wondering what he was wanting.

Zabuza looked up at the ceiling and asked, "Have I lost sight of who I was?" She gave him a confused look, "When I went rogue, it was to raise money for the rebellion... But I still had standards, I still had my honor. Then I made a compromise to make a lot of cash, then another, and another... Now I'm helping some prick noble take over a country just to sate his own greed... The only reason the little fucker took over was because the king was going to use the money to help the poor and less fortunate, and Shabadaba didn't like it!"

After Zabuza grew silent, Haku chose her words carefully, "I admit, there are jobs we do that I dislike, that disgust me... When we met in Kiri... I was picking through trash, and you decided to help me, and despite what you say, I believe that it was truly out of kindness... Now we're helping the people who put others into the state I was in, I feel like one of the Mizukage's soldiers... I hate it..."

Zabuza nodded, not speaking another word as he shunshined out of the palace to look for Michiru.

* * *

 _The beach, near nightfall._

After burying the king, Hikaru and Michiru had been in a funk, no surprise considering everything they had gone through in the past couple of days. Right then, the soldiers were trying to make a large boat to get Michiru and Hikaru out of the country, Anko and Korega had gone to scout out the palace, and the gennin were left guarding the beach hideout.

Naruto surveyed the beach, it didn't seem like anything was happening, but then, Kiki, the monkey from the circus, and Muse came up to him and whined at him. He looked around and his eyes widened, he was flooded with blue Eco as he ran over to Hikaru, grabbed him, and jumped back just as a huge black haired ninja smashed his fist down where Hikaru was standing. Keira and Hinata came up and got into their own fighting stances. The other four ninja appeared, and Zabuza immediately ran up and started fighting Team 11, who were trying to get past him, but every time they tried, Haku was there to crowd them back to Zabuza.

Meanwhile, the soldiers were trying to fight off Ishidate, Kongo, and Karenbana, but the ninja easily got through them and tied Michiru up, dragging him away. Naruto , Keira, and Hinata tried everything, but no matter what they did, Zabuza had an answer. Eventually, Keira and Hinata were struck in their legs by Haku, leaving them temporarily paralyzed. Naruto decided to try one last attack, he channeled a huge amount of yellow Eco into his fist, packed it with all the emotions he was feeling, and shot forward.

Zabuza brought his blade up to prepare for the attack, but he couldn't prepare for what he felt next. An interesting characteristic of yellow chakra, if one was truly putting their emotions into it's use, then their emotions and will would wash over their opponent. Zabuza was feeling Naruto's will to do what was right, his passion for helping those weaker than him, his hatred for people who valued things and titles over human life, everything. Zabuza mustered up the strength and pushed Naruto off of him, before he felt something coming at him from behind.

Zabuza turned to slice the attacker in half and found... Hikaru.

The small boy was holding a kunai and was obviously scared out of his mind. As Zabuza looked at him, he saw images of other kids overlapping him... A young Haku, scared and lonely, just trying to survive... It was the second one that really got to him, caused by the kunai Hikaru was holding... A young Zabuza shakily holding a kunai, debating on whether or not he should do it. Kill the graduating class, or live his entire life without the approval of his ruthless, cold, shinobi parents...

Zabuza returned to reality and turned to see his reflection in the water. Instead of a ninja protecting his country, Zabuza saw a man holding a sword, about to cleave a terrified child in half...

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Zabuza yelled at the top of his lungs before continuing with his slash, liquid splashing into the air and onto him... Hikaru's eyes widened as Zabuza suddenly turned and sliced the water. Zabuza then turned to where the loyalists were fighting the rogue soldiers, "I REFUSE TO BE A PAWN TO GREEDY ASSHOLES ANYMORE!" He hefted the Kubikiribocho and charged, hacking through the traitors and blocking shots that would have killed the loyalists.

Once it was all said and done, everyone was looking, stunned, at Zabuza, who just walked over to the water's edge, sat, and stared at the water. Haku walked over to team 11 and gave them a warm smile, "Well, I guess that we're not enemies anymore."

* * *

 _A few hours later._

Anko and Korega returned to the beach to see a whole slew of dead soldiers littering the beach. They ran over to the cave to see what had happened, only to find something that immediately both confused them, and got them very wary.

"The guards won't let anybody in, no matter the reason. I told them about you buying the circus, so using it to sneak in isn't an option..." Zabuza and his accomplice were sitting with Team 11 trying to come up with a way to get into the palace.

After explaining Zabuza's change of heart, they kept talking for hours before they came up with an effective plan.

* * *

 _Palace throne room._

Shabadaba grinned evilly to himself when Haku led the group of bound ninja into his throne room, It looked to be the three gennin, "Perfect! Now the gang's all here!" He then gestured outside to Michiru standing on a board definitely not meant to hold him. He was up on a walkway extending from the center tower , extending out to about the middle of the courtyard, held up by slanting pillars extending from the wall to under the walkway. The board was extended out past the path, and it was clearly meant to hang Michiru, judging by the noose...

Haku spoke up, "Zabuza-sama stayed behind to track down the boy and jounin."

Shabadaba nodded and said, "Excellent... Ishidate, come with me up to the walkway, I want to be there when Michiru dies, Kongo, head to the entrance hall and discourage any loyalists who get in, Karenbana, stay here with the royal guard and watch the ninja, Haku, go with the royal guard to track down the last few loyalists... Ah, the crescent moon out tonight makes the best mood!" With a nod the ninja all went about their orders.

After they had left and the gennin were alone with Karenbana, they soon heard an explosion rock the palace, they all smiled and broke the ropes binding them with almost no effort, and left in different directions. Keira went to fight Kongo, Naruto headed out the window and up to help Michiru, and Hinata immediately went on the offensive on Karenbana.

The petite ninja merely smirked and jumped back before disappearing. If Hinata was worried, she showed absolutely no sign of it. Karenbana then spoke from all directions, "I'll admit, that was clever, I have no idea how you managed to get Haku to help you... But I'll just kill you and end it, simple!" Hinata just activated her Byakugan, making her invisible enemy scoff, "Ha! You think I haven't accounted for that? It'll be easy to-"

*Smack!*

Hinata didn't even turn to face her opponent as she backhanded her onto the ground, Karenbana got up angry, "You bitch!"

Hinata tilted her head, "If it makes you feel b-better, I'll fight without my B-byakugan..." With that, Hinata turned her doujutsu off. Karenbana smirked and disappeared again, this time into a flurry of sakura petals. When she went to stab Hinata with a kunai, she was suddenly on the receiving end of a Jyuken assault from Hinata, who was striking relentlessly. A palm to the stomach, another to the chest, side, even under her chin. Hinata then decided to deal the final blow, stepping back, then stepping forward again, placing her hands on Karenbana's torso, right on her chest, and left on her stomach, before switching them while dragging her hands to the right, **"Juho, Shizukana Nagare!"** Karenbana was violently wrenched off of her feet, being thrown beside and behind Hinata, with her torso being twisted and crushed.

Hinata then stood up, before walking away from the body, "Your p-perfume is cheap. I can s-smell it from a mile a-away." Normally she would have had a more violent reaction to her first kill, but she and the team had killed some bandits in one of the attacks on the way to the port. Anko had helped them through it, but that didn't mean that it was easy...

* * *

Keira found her way to a large hexagonal room with a long winding staircase all the way up. As she started to look around, Kongo appeared behind her and kicked her forward, over the railing. Keira tapped a seal on her wristband and threw a kunai she retrieved from it, after it stabbed into a pillar, she swung on a string of ninja wire and landed safely on the ground floor.

Kongo jumped down after her and chuckled, "Just how is a pretty little thing like you gonna take me down?"

Keira twitched and took out a scroll, unrolling it and activating a storage seal, revealing a rather large warhammer. (It's a Dwarven Warhammer from Skyrim, but precursor metal orange instead of yellow) Kongo was about to laugh at the thought of Keira wielding it effectively, until she twirled it around in her hands with practiced ease. Then she shot forward and slammed the hammer into Kongo's stomach, sending him back into a wall.

Kongo pulled himself out of it and the two engaged in a close quarters battle, Kongo was fast for his size, and his punches hit hard, but Keira was able to use her hammer to match his blows. It became clear to Keira that they were at a stalemate, so she planted her hammer into the ground and kicked Kongo away, placing her hammer back into a scroll. She then took out another one and said, "Sorry buddy but this is where it ends. I've been saving this for a special occasion..." She unraveled the scroll and draped it on her right arm, then made a ram seal.

There was a large column of smoke obscuring Kongo's view, but he soon heard a slight scraping of metal, and something large moving... After the smoke cleared, his eyes widened, because Keira had the arm of a precursor robot over her own! (It's an arm from the Precursor Robot in Jak 3)

Keira moved the arm around a bit before smirking with a gleam in her eye, "I'm planning on restoring the whole thing and refitting it into a suit. But this works for now!" She clenched the arm into a fist, and Kongo gulped. The large ninja grit his teeth at being intimidated by a tiny girl like Keira, and shot forward with a plan to finish her with one punch. Once he got close enough, he threw his arm forward and was rewarded with a loud 'gong' sound from punching Keira's armored arm. However, instead of the arm breaking as he'd thought, it was only dented, it was his hand that broke.

"Aaaagh!" Kongo yelled as he backed off holding his injured hand, Keira removed the arm from in front of her body and gave Kongo a glare.

"Do you have any idea how hard it'll be to knock that dent out!? I'll have to open the arm up and fix it with almost no room to work a hammer! I'll have to take out the wiring and everything!" With that, she ran forward and threw Kongo up into the air by the back of his shirt, then placed her palm on the ground. She was immediately launched up into the air as a jet of fire blasted out of the arm, propelling her above Kongo, where it stopped. She then pulled the arm back, hearing a sound from inside, like something turning, and got ready for a palm strike.

Kongo noticed this and held his arms in front of himself to block, but Keira only smirked as a hole in the arm's palm glowed white and red. She thrust her palm forward and fired a laser blast, throwing Kongo into the ground and killing him, the laser blowing a hole through him and cauterizing it.

Keira landed on the ground with the help of her armored arm, using it to absorb the fall. She then channeled chakra into a seal on the inside, and it was sealed back up into the scroll still inside, letting Keira drop to the ground, a bit unsteady before falling onto the ground, "Damn, that thing really takes up a lot of chakra..." She steadied herself and stayed down to rest a bit, before looking up with a surprised expression, "What'd I get so worked up about? I can just pop the armor off and get the dent out that way!" Even though it may seem cold to not even think about her opponent just after killing him, Keira was just trying to distract herself... Unlike her teammates, she wasn't born into ninja life, Naruto and Hinata had known that they'd have to kill eventually, but Keira hadn't. She found an escape in her projects, and it worked for her. As she thought up new ideas for inventions and weapons, she stood and made her way back to the throne room.

* * *

Michiru looked out at Tsuki no Kuni from his precarious perch. He reflected on the things he had learned since his father's death... Shabadaba had done this because he wanted the money that the royal family possessed, and as much as Michiru didn't want to, he couldn't help but draw similarities between himself and the corrupt adviser. Believing that money was more important than people, a materialistic want for material possessions... He then heard Shabadaba's voice from behind, "Well, it looks like things are finally coming to a close Michiru... Soon I'll have everything I deserve, and you'll be dead!"

Shabadaba laughed at his position, before an explosion shook the palace. They all looked down into the front courtyard to see Zabuza and Anko throwing around dragons of water and fire, mowing down soldiers like it was a favorite past-time of theirs.

Ishidate grit his teeth and turned to leave, before Naruto launched up from over the side and kicked him back. Naruto landed on the walkway and got into his fighting pose. Standing normally, with the only thing to indicate a change in stance being his arms pulled up to his sides, by his waist. They were clenched into fists and turned so his palms were pointed upwards.

Shabadaba turned to run away in all the confusion, and Naruto smirked as Haku appeared, she gave him a smile and said, "I'll hold him until this is over." Haku then followed Shabadaba, catching up in a matter of seconds. When he saw her, Haku held up a senbon and channeled a little Hyoton chakra, making the walls become covered in frost. The former adviser nearly soiled himself when he saw Haku glare at him, "I'm afraid your royal guards have come down with a little cold..." Then all he saw was darkness.

Meanwhile, Naruto channeled green Eco through his body, wisps of green energy flowing off his body. Ishidate pulled a glove on his hand tighter, and powered it up to maximum, the eye on the back opening and red lines appearing all over it. Naruto quickly created a pair of clones and had them rush forward, Ishidate was prepared to take them out, but they both rushed past him. He turned back to see Hikaru firing off an arrow that cut the rope around Michiru's neck, and the clones pulling the prince up off of the board.

Ishidate then turned back to Naruto in front of him, "Don't take your eyes off of your opponent." Then the two engaged in a taijutsu battle. Ishidate quickly lost his smirk when he realized that his petrification glove didn't work, "Why aren't you turning to stone, this thing is at full power!"

Naruto smirked, "That's for me to know and you to get pissed at." Then Naruto quickly lunged forward and threw a straight punch to his opponent's chest, throwing him back and knocking his wig off. (By the way, for Naruto's taijutsu style, I'm gonna use some of Jak's fighting moves. Like that punch Naruto just did was his punching attack.)

 **-Play: Naruto Shippuden OST, Reverse Situation. I don't own this -**

Ishidate grit his teeth in rage and jumped up, using a Doton jutsu to break up the rocks on the walkway and throw them at Naruto. He stood on a floating stone and broke the other ones up, sending a rain of rock shards at Naruto, making a dust cloud form. The blonde pulled out his sword and used it to knock away the shards and cut them up. After Ishidate ran out of ammo, he expected to see Naruto covered in rock and dead on the ground, but instead he got Naruto standing with his sword, looking as if he'd just finished a slash.

The mercinary ninja decided to try a different approach, "You're pretty strong kid, how about you join me? What do you say, we could use some new blood."

Naruto looked up and sheathed his sword, "Not a chance. You don't even care about your comrades, I fight for the people I care about, few as they may be. Someone like you... You'll never beat me, because you don't have a reason to fight greater than petty selfishness." Naruto then jumped up and made a quick axe kick that sent Ishidate into the ground.

As Michiru watched the battle, he was struck with a sudden realization. Hearing what Naruto said made him realize... It wasn't the title of king that was important, it wasn't himself, it wasn't even the country... It was the people, it was everyone who supported him and depended on him. They were what was really important... He pushed himself to his feet, his father made him the new king, and now it was his turn to act like one.

Ishidate was livid, and he was about to launch a jutsu that would level the castle when Michiru came up behind him and got him in a full nelson hold. Ishidate's eyes widened as he started using his jutsu to stab Michiru with rock shards.

Michiru's face contorted in pain, but he looked Naruto in the eye, "Finish it!"

Naruto nodded, and held his hand out, forming a spinning ball of chakra, the rasengan. It had taken years of work, but Naruto had figured the jutsu out from the scroll he had taken when he left. Naruto rushed forward, holding the Rasengan aloft and drawing in nature energy, making the Rasengan grow bigger in the light of the crescent moon. The ball of chakra then took on a shining white hue, and a small crescent shape appeared inside of it.

Naruto got close and created a couple clones who grabbed Michiru and pulled him away, out of the Rasengan's path. Ishidate's eyes widened in fear as he was hit with the attack, he was shot into a world of pain as the rasengan expanded to be the same height as himself.

Naruto made a final push, " **Senpou: Mikadzuki Rasengan!"** His jutsu exploded in blue and white light, Ishidate being thrown back into a far tower on the other side of the courtyard, the force of the blow killing him.

 **\- Song End. -**

Hikaru started celebrating with Chamu, Kiki, and Muse when he saw that they had won.

* * *

 _Courtyard._

Anko looked up at the explosion with Hinata and Keira beside her, resting after their own battles, "Damn... That kid really is something else..."

Keira just nodded, "You bet he is!"

Hinata nodded as well, with a bit more awe, "That m-move is so strong! It's b-beautiful too..."

Zabuza watched as well with an appraising eye, "He's not half bad... What do you think Haku? ... Haku?" When he looked to see his student, she had a blush on her face and a little smile, she and Naruto had actually hit it off rather nicely after their little enemy thing.

She snapped out of it and looked at Zabuza, "I'm sorry Zabuza-sama... He is very strong."

Anko laughed mischievously when Zabuza twitched at seeing the way Haku blushed. Keira and Hinata just gave each other a look before nodding with smiles.

* * *

 _A week and a half later._

After getting the last of the traitors and corrupt nobles and soldiers rounded up, Team 11, Haku, and Zabuza had spent a while helping the guards repair the damage to the palace. After that was done, only taking a few days with Naruto's clones, they had relaxed for a couple of days. Well, Anko didn't relax much, sure she went to the beach with them, taking pleasure in teasing the other beach goers, she had spent most of her time in the casinos and bars.

Currently, everyone was loading up onto a boat going back to the mainland. Michiru and Hikaru were seeing them off, the king had started working out and was about to try and patch things up with Amayo, everyone was happy to see that both he and Hikaru had learned the true value of the lives of others. Michiru gave them a thankful smile, "I can't thank you enough for all you've done to help us... But I suppose I can start by saying that you will always be welcome here, and that we'll always remember everything you've done for us."

Hikaru nodded with a smile, "Yeah! I'm gonna start training so one day I can be as strong as you guys!"

After many heartfelt goodbyes and a few tears, the boat was on it's way back to the mainland. Anko decided to strike up a conversation, "So Zabuza, what do you think you two are gonna do?"

Zabuza shrugged, "After all the things I've done, I really don't know... I've got too many bad memories in Kiri, so I'm not going back there..."

"Why don't you two come to Konoha with us?" Everyone looked at Keira with confused expressions, "Well, Hidden Villages have been known to take missing ninja into their forces before, and as long as Zabuza agrees, then he should be fine. Haku too."

Anko ave it a little thought, "It could work... With the four of us vouching for you, it'd be even better."

Haku gave Zabuza a puppy dog eye look, and he caved, "Fine... We'll at least check it out..."

* * *

 _Konoha main gate. A few days later._

Kotetsu and Izumo, the eternal gate guards were bored out of their skulls... It had been far too long since anything exciting had happened, they perked up when they noticed a group approaching the gate. As it got closer, they wished for no more excitement. It was team 11 back from their mission, that much was easy, but it was the infamous Zabuza Momochi with them that worried the two chunin.

Anko walked up with her usual smile as Naruto put his hood back up and said, "Hey guys. Team 11 and guests reporting back from our mission."

They nodded and Kotetsu said, "Alright, I assume your two guests are here for a reason?"

Zabuza gave them a glare and Haku nodded with a smile. Anko got the paperwork all signed and they made their way to the Hokage tower, drawing more than a few looks from the villagers. It was mostly Zabuza and Haku drawing all the attention, but Hinata also got quite a few looks, it appeared that putting her jacket on and covering herself back up had slipped her mind.

When they got to the tower, they walked up and knocked on Minato's office door. After a few moments, they heard the usual, "Enter." The team, minus Zabuza and Haku, all walked in to see Minato, Kushina, and team 7 in the office.

Kakashi gave his usual eye smile, "Welcome back Anko. Just let me finish my report on our mission." At Anko's nod he turned back to Minato, "Anyway, after Gato tried to initiate a takeover of Nami while we were there, we took him down and protected Tazuna and Kaiza while they finished their bridge. We left a few days after."

Minato nodded and said, "Alright then, you all can go home." Kakashi and team 7 left the room, "Now then Anko, how did your mission go?"

Anko stepped forward and smiled, "It was good, for a B-rank turned S-rank."

At this, Minato and Kushina nearly choked on air, "What do you mean S-rank!? It was a simple escort mission!" Minato asked with widened eyes.

Anko wasn't fazed in the least and said, "Well it turns out that one of the king's advisers had started a coup, and we helped take back the whole damn hostile country!"

Minato narrowed his eyes and turned serious, "I want word for word what happened..."

And so Anko explained the play-by-play for the mission, from meeting up with the prince's group to leaving the island. With each of the gennin stepping in to describe their own fights, Naruto leaving out how he'd used the rasengan, instead going with his flaming punch from his fight against Sasuke. After they had explained, Minato sat and thought for a minute before Kushina spoke up, "What about Zabuza and his student, where did they go?"

At this, Anko scratched the back of her head and opened the door, letting the two ninja walk in, putting everyone except team 11 on edge. Zabuza spoke up after a few minutes, "The mechanic girl suggested that we come here to be shinobi... I said I'd give it a try..."

Minato, not sensing anything from them, said, "Very well. But there'll be some conditions. For now, you'll talk with the head of T&I. Then there'll be a month long period when you'll only be able to go to the training fields to train, and stay in the village. You'll be monitored by ANBU during this time. After that, there'll be a six month period where you'll be able to take missions outside the village with a team, but you won't be able to attend any jounin meetings or be entrusted with any village secrets until it's over. The same conditions go for your associate. Acceptable?"

Zabuza nodded, it could have been a lot worse...

A few hours later, Naruto, Hinata, Haku, and Keira were out looking for some lunch. They had stayed behind until Zabuza and Haku were done with their interrogation, then offered to show the two around the village. Zabuza had declined, opting to walk around and look for an apartment for himself and Haku. Anyway, we now find the four walking into the Akimichi's barbecue restaurant, and taking a seat at a booth. After ordering and getting their food, Keira noticed that Haku was damn near inhaling her food, "Slow down Haku! It's not like the food's gonna run away on you!"

Haku realized what she looked like and blushed, "I'm sorry, it's just that when Zabuza-sama and I were traveling, we never got to visit places like this, so I'm pretty excited..."

Naruto gave her a smile, "Well, the village is home now, so you don't have to worry about being hunted down anymore."

The Hyoton user smiled, "Thank you. It feels nice to have a home after all these years." She then took out a senbon, scaring Muse, who was about to steal some food from her plate. In order to save her, Naruto picked her up by the scruff of her neck and placed her over in front of her own plate.

The four had a nice time eating, then after they had payed the bill, another gennin team came in and took a seat at a table near theirs. They seemed nice to Naruto, Keira, and Haku, but one member made Hinata flinch and try to sink as low into her seat as possible...

As they made to leave, Keira and the female of the team, a girl with twin buns a bit like panda ears, locked eyes. The girl stood up and walked over to them as Keira turned and met her halfway. All the members of either group watched them, not knowing what they were doing. One boy with a bowl cut called out to her, "Tenten?" She didn't listen... Then both pulled out a kunai.

Both teams tensed, until they tossed their respective kunai to the other. Keira looked over Tenten's kunai and said, "Standard issue, expendable, crafted by someone who obviously knew what they were doing..."

Tenten was also examining Keira's kunai, "Made of an abnormal metal, incredibly strong, no doubt rare..."

After this, they returned the kunai and took out various other weapons and swapping to examine them for any imperfection. Keira vs. Tenten, Scimitar vs. Katana, Warhammer vs. Kanabo, Tonfa vs. Staff. Back and forth they went for over twenty minutes, with their teams just standing there and watching them. After they were done, the two looked at each other, as if sizing each other up, before Tenten said, "Your weapons are all made out of that strange metal. While very strong and easily conducts chakra, it's obviously very rare..."

Keira responded in kind, "Your weapons are basic, but masterfully crafted..."

After another small stare-off, the two shook hands and turned back to their teams like nothing had happened.

Just as team 11 plus one were about to leave, the Hyuga on Tenten's team gave Hinata a dirty look, which Naruto noticed, "Do you have something to say about my teammate?"

The boy stood up and looked at Naruto with a superior look, "No, she knows exactly how I feel about her." He said with a sneer directed at Hinata.

Hinata shrunk back and mumbled, "N-Neji-niisan..."

Naruto released a little killing intent while Muse actually growled at Naji, the fur on her back standing on end, all while showing off her sharp teeth, drawing the attention of the shinobi in the restaurant, "Look at her like that again and I'll wipe that smirk off your face."

Neji narrowed his eyes before lashing out with a strike to Naruto's arm, his sensei then stood up, "Neji!"

Instead of Naruto backing off and trying to move his now temporarily useless arm, a green energy just seeped out of Naruto's arm, and the blonde held the limb up and moved it with no problems. He looked to see Neji's smirk gone, "There it goes... No more smirk."

With that, Naruto turned and left, his companions following. After they had left the restaurant, Hinata went up beside Naruto, "N-Naruto... you d-didn't have t-to do t-that... I'm u-used to it..."

Naruto gave her a smile, "Of course I did Hinata. We're teammates, beyond that, we're friends! Of course I was going to defend you." He gave her a winning smile to punctuate it, leading to a large blush from the Hyuga girl.

After they had dropped Hinata and Haku off, Naruto and Keira returned to their apartment, Muse taking her usual place on the couch. As they got ready to go to sleep, Naruto sensed something, and left the apartment. He went up to the roof and saw what, or who, he was looking for, "What now Naruko?"

His sister gave him a bright smile, "I just wanted to tell you that your last chance to join me is coming up soon! While I'd rather have you by my side, I won't hesitate to kill you if you get in my way."

Naruto was about to get her to leave, **"Kit, get her to use my chakra on the outside... I need a way to see into her network. The best way is for both of you to use it, and make contact, then I'll confirm what's wrong..."**

Naruto nodded mentally, then he spoke, "I want to see just how serious you are..." He then channeled Kurama's chakra into his hand, wrapping it in the cloak.

Naruko's eyes widened in joy as her hand was wrapped in Kurama's chakra as well, then she shot forward at Jounin level speed and went to punch Naruto, who grabbed her hand with his. Kurama immediately went to work on finding the problem, meanwhile Naruto and Naruko were staring at each other. Naruto wondering just what the hell could make her like this, and Naruko thinking about all the things she'd be doing with her Onii-chan when he finally saw things her way.

Then Naruto let go, and Naruko stepped back, "I'll get your answer in a few days time... Be ready Onii-chan!" With that, she disappeared again.

Naruto took a few seconds and headed down to the apartment, sitting on the couch in the dark, _"Did you figure it out?"_

Kurama took a few seconds to gather his thoughts and spoke up, **"My chakra is looking for a way out of her body and back to me. Unfortunately it can't control itself without me, so it's running rampant throughout Naruko. The seal you two share was made to hold back a sentient being, but since my chakra doesn't have conscious thought, it was able to slip past a loophole in the seal. Anyway, it's influencing her, making her need to use it so that my chakra can get out into the world and find a way back to me... Unfortunately, this had some consequences... My chakra, at it's nature, is destructive and deadly. Without me to keep it in check, it has been reaching out and drawing in anything that feels similar to itself, again trying to find me, and taking that into itself, therefore, into Naruko. Think about it kit... We agreed that she was insane, warped... What could do that to her, something that emits destruction..."**

Naruto's eyes widened in realization, _"Are you trying to tell me that she has Dark Eco inside of her!?"_

 **"That's exactly what I'm saying... But not all is totally lost. Once inside her, my chakra recognized that the dark Eco wasn't what it was looking for, so it isolated it, kept it contained. However, this means that once Naruko runs out of my chakra, the dark Eco will attack her all at once. She'll die instantly. From what I sensed from her, she has one week left..."**

Naruto sat there, reflecting on what he'd learned... It was obvious that he needed to purge the dark Eco from Naruko's body before she used all of Kurama's chakra up, the question was, how? Naruto kept going through every single healing technique he knew... But there was nothing that could get rid of dark Eco, it was obvious that Naruko wouldn't just let him take away her power... Naruto thought through everything Samos had taught him, everything he'd read about Dark Eco and biju chakra, anything that would have helped... Eventually he figured out what he needed, but it would not be easy.

He snapped his eyes open and said, "I need Light Eco..."

* * *

 _ **Chapter End!**_

Okay, so the chunin exams are next, and we know what's wrong with Naruko! I tried to make it good enough to where it wouldn't sound like a typical, 'biju chakra made her do it' thing.

Also, when I said that Naruto would be getting dark and light Eco powers around the chunin exams, but I never said he would get dark and light Naruto yet. I want to save those, but he may or may not go dark for a fight in the finals.

Okay, that's all I really had to say now, I hope you guys liked the chapter!

Review Please!


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